the 35 year old England cricket team Batting all-rounder Moeen Ali is set to return to Test cricket at Ashes 2023. On Wednesday 14 June, the veteran spin-bowling all-rounder was named in the side’s playing XI for the Test series opener.
Moeen Ali played his last Test for England in September 2021 against India at The Oval, before announcing his retirement from the game’s purer format.
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Moeen Ali was a very late inclusion in England’s squad for the Ashes 2023. He replaced 31-year-old left-arm Jack Leach, who was ruled out of the series due to a lower back stress fracture.
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Notably, Moeen was asked by England if he would consider reversing his retirement from Test cricket and he agreed as he found the new “Bazball” style of cricket quite interesting.
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“The fact that it’s The Ashes and it’s such a big show, to be a part of it would be amazing. The exciting cricket the boys have been playing. It is a time that I would have loved when I played [before].”
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“Stokesy texted me with a question mark: ‘Ashes?’ I hadn’t heard the news about Leachy at the time, so I just said ‘LOL’, thinking he was taking the mic. Then the news came and I had a talk with him. That was it,” Moeen Ali was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
Ashes 2023: along with Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Ollie Robinson return to England XI for the 1st round
Veteran pacer James Anderson and 29-year-old closer Ollie Robinson have also returned to the playing XI after resting during the recent Test one-off against the Ireland National Cricket Team.
They will be joined by pacer Stuart Broad, who has surprisingly retained his place in the playing XI after beating fast pacer Mark Wood. The move comes as a surprise considering they don’t have an express pacer in the XI and England had reportedly required “fast, flat wickets” for this summer’s Test matches.
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Quick on the right arm, Mark Wood last played Test cricket for England in December 2022 during the tour of Pakistan. He is expected to feature in the second Test, which will be played at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Stadium from June 28.
Meanwhile, the inaugural Ashes 2023 clash between arch-rivals Australia and England will be played at the Edgbaston in Birmingham from June 16-20.
England playing XI For Ashes 2023 First Test:
1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jonny Bairstow (week), 8 Moeen Ali, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Ollie Robinson, 11 James Anderson.
Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | Rishabh Pant | KL Raul | Suryakumar Yadav | Sanju Samson | Shreyas Iyer | Yuzvendra Chahal | Jasprit Bumrah