Moeen in the frame for England Test recall
ENGLAND will go back to their missing big guns today when they pick their squad for a Test series in South Africa Joe Root cannot afford to lose. Jimmy Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Mark Wood and, probably, Moeen Ali are set for recalls when the selectors meet by video conference call to choose what could be an enlarged squad for a four-match series that begins on Boxing Day. Defeat in New Zealand has cranked up the pressure on Root’s captaincy. Record wicket-taker Anderson and the rapid Wood, man of the match in the last Test he played against West Indies in St Lucia, will be back as long as they have proved their fitness on a pre-tour camp in Potchefstroom. Bairstow, too, is set to return. He missed the two-Test series in New Zealand after being told to concentrate on becoming a top-order batsman rather than filling the keeping role he so cherishes. Bairstow, who has also been practising in Potchefstroom, will probably return, partly to back up wicketkeeper Jos Buttler, but principally to provide an alternative top-three option to Dom Sibley and even Joe Denly. That means the unlucky Ben Foakes, Test-class as a keeper and batsman, could miss out again. Root and coach Chris Silverwood held productive talks with Moeen this week about what he always insisted was a temporary withdrawal from Tests and will consider him today because of the struggles of Jack Leach in New Zealand. The picture is complicated by yesterday’s news that Moeen (right) has been drafted by Multan for the T20 Pakistan Super League, which clashes with England’s tour of Sri Lanka in March. Moeen will be badly needed by England in Sri Lanka and they hope he will just play in the first part of the competition. The concern for England in bringing back established players is they risk leaving out the likes of Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson and Zak Crawley without learning much about them in New Zealand. Mahmood, at least, may be retained.