England all-rounder Moeen Ali confirms Test comeback
England all-rounder Moeen Ali has said that he is “officially unretired: in the longest format of the game and is planning to make a comeback to the England Test squad. Moeen also confirmed that he had a chat with new Test head coach Brendon McCullum regarding his return.
It must be noted that Moeen called his time from the Test Cricket in 2021. At present, he has played 64 Test matches for his country and has amassed a total of 2914 runs. With the ball, he has scalped 195 wickets for England. The left-handed batter made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2014.
‘Very hard to say no to’ – Moeen Ali on England coach Brendon McCullum
The Three Lions will travel to play Pakistan in their next Test assignment as Moeen can come in very handy in those conditions.
“I spoke to McCullum this morning, and we did discuss Pakistan this winter. The door is always open, and yeah, I suppose I am officially unretired,” he said during the third day’s play between England and New Zealand.
“He is a very difficult person to say no to. I find that very, very hard. He is very convincing and to be honest I would love to play under him and Ben Stokes. They are both very aggressive and I think I would suit their cricket a bit more. At the time I said I was retired I felt like I was done. I felt really tired with cricket,” he added.
In a recent interaction, Moeen had told BBC: “When, or if, Baz McCullum wants me, I’ll definitely play in Pakistan. I have played Pakistan Super League out there a few years ago but it’s not the same. To travel with an England side there having family background from that part of the world will be amazing. It would be a historic event because of England not touring there for so many years. I know the support and love you can get out there, they love cricket. It’s really something that’s very appealing for sure.”