'We want the best players to come': Moeen Ali backs delaying of Hundred
Moeen Ali insists the coronavirus pandemic would have to “drastically” improve for cricket to be played this summer and so is fully behind the Hundred’s expected 12-month postponement.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has said no professional matches can be staged before 1 July at the earliest and, with internationals and the T20 Blast prioritised in the event of a resumption, an announcement on the Hundred’s year-long delay is due on Thursday.
Moeen is desperate to get back on the field but the 32-year-old also knows that the mortality rate – 601 UK hospital deaths were announced for the previous 24 hours on Wednesday – means patience is required.
Moeen said: “Of course everyone wants us to be playing cricket but if things are not safe it would be very difficult to get players to play. We’d have to get advice from specialists. At the moment it’s too early. [601] people dying is still a big number.
“That would have to get drastically better for players to consider playing. In my mind there’s probably three to four weeks – maybe a couple of months – for us to start training. It’s a very difficult position.
“Hopefully sport will be back soon but when the time is right, everyone is safe and the players don’t feel like they might get it. With so many people dying around the world – and in this country in particular – it’s difficult for the players to really switch on.”
Moeen was intended to be one of the poster boys for the Hundred, having been signed as an icon player by Birmingham Phoenix – his home city – and handed the captaincy for 2020. As a role model for the south Asian community that the tournament is intended to attract, it looked the perfect fit.
But with travel restrictions expected to prevent overseas stars from joining the eight teams and Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, saying crowds are looking unlikely this summer, Moeen believes it is too soon to fire up the radical new tournament.
Moeen said: “It is better for it to be delayed. We want the Hundred played with all best players around the world available to come, so it makes more sense that way. There is probably going to be too much to squeeze in the last couple of months of the season; it would be hard work to squeeze in the Hundred as well.
“It is such a big deal for us in this country and we want it to be played when everything is right and no problems around the world.”
Moeen accepts that some of the momentum from last year’s World Cup win that was hoped might spill over into the Hundred has been lost but added that a launch in 2021 could in fact widen the pool of overseas talent available. He has suggested a possible mini-draft could take place if the bulk of the current squads are retained.
The all-rounder told the Guardian recently that he will make himself available for all formats again following a winter break from Test consideration. And on Wednesday’s conference call he said he would back himself to win back a spot – with the Ashes tour in 2021-22 a goal and a chance to “put things right” given a personally chastening series there last time.
How much international cricket takes place this summer remains the great unknown, however, with the visits of West Indies, Pakistan and Ireland hinging on there being no further delays – and Australia’s scheduled trip for six white-ball matches already looking in doubt going by David Warner’s recent admission it is “highly unlikely”.
The ECB are working on creating “bio-secure” conditions for matches played behind closed doors – Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl is one mooted venue, given its on-site hotel – but Moeen, who played the final two games of a recent stint in the Pakistan Super League in empty grounds, is understandably not a fan.
He added: “We played in the PSL the last two games with no one in the ground and it was so bad. There were such big crowds before that, so you went from one extreme to the other. It was very difficult to get yourself up for the game. No one wants to play in an empty stadium. But it will probably have to be the case for a while.”