Moeen guides Worcestershire to T20 Blast title
LONDON: England spinner Moeen Ali found himself making headlines on the field as well as off it after he led Worcestershire to the English T20 Blast title with victory over Sussex in the final at Edgbaston on Saturday.
A memorable finals day for the England all-rounder started with an allegation, contained in an extract from his autobiography published in Britain’s The Times newspaper, that he was called “Osama” by an Australia player during the 2015 Ashes series.
On the field, the Worcestershire captain scored 41 and took two for 16 with his off-spinners, including the wicket of England team-mate Jos Buttler, as his side beat Lancashire by 20 runs in the opening semi-final.
He then took three for 30 as Worcestershire held Sussex to a total of 157 for six in the final at Edgbaston — a target the Midlands side chased down with wicket-keeper Ben Cox making an unbeaten 46 and Moeen contributing 41 as they won by five wickets.
“I just knew we were going to win today,” said Moeen, whose side owed their place in the final to an impressive semi-final return of four for 21 from 20-year-old seamer Pat Brown. “We were amazing. We won the crucial moments in the game.”
Earlier, Cricket Australia (CA) responded to Moeen’s damning comments by saying it was launching an investigation, saying the remark he’d allegedly heard was “unacceptable”.
Moeen, a 31-year-old practising Muslim, said he was on the receiving end of the slur, a reference to Osama bin Laden, from an unnamed opponent during his Ashes debut against Australia in Cardiff three years ago — a match where he scored 77 runs in the first innings and took five wickets.
BROADCASTER CAN’T DECIDE TEAM: BCCI
India captain Virat Kohli’s absence from Asia Cup has got BCCI into a head on collision with Asian Cricket Council (ACC) after broadcasters Star expressed their displeasure.
The BCCI, however, in a tersely worded reply to ACC has made it clear that neither them or broadcasters have any say in national team selection matters.
Kohli was rested after an 84-day tour of England.
In an email to ACC Game Development Manager Thusith Perera, the host broadcaster expressed their displeasure, stating how Kohli’s absence will impact the financial aspect of the
coverage. “The announcement of the absence of one of world’s best batsmen from the Asia Cup, only 15 days before the commencement of the Asia Cup, is a severe dent to us (event broadcaster) and will severely impact our ability to monetise the tournament,” the email stated.
However, BCCI made it clear that selection of the national team is its prerogative and no outside interference would be allowed.
“Please note that selection of best available team for participation in a tournament is sole prerogative of BCCI,’’ BCCI CEO Rahul Johri replied to Perera.
“It is not open for ACC or its broadcaster to insist on selection of any particular player and/or to question the expertise of any selection committee as to which is the best available team for particular tournament,’’ Johri further wrote.