Moeen Ali has finally decided that he will not don the whites in international stage. In June, Ali unretired himself from Test cricket after the revolutionary new head coach Brendon McCullum. Few months later, he has ruled out the possibility of playing red-ball/pink-ball cricket for England again.
In a column he wrote in the Daily Mail, he revealed that he had a telephonic conversation with McCullum where he denied the offer to return into the Test fold again.
"That's a trip I won't be making sadly," he wrote. "It's not something I'm keen on doing any more.
"I've had an honest chat with Baz [McCullum] about the tour and I really can't see myself being stuck in hotels for another month and playing Test cricket to the best of my ability.
"Baz phoned me and we spoke at length and I just said, 'Nah, sorry, I'm done' and he understands. He knows the feeling. Yes, I said I was 'unretired' in the summer and watching the boys, I got the feeling I properly miss this and that this is how I've always wanted to play the game.
"But the more I thought about it and discussed with those close to me, I knew deep down why I was done. Test cricket is hard work. I don't think my mindset would be any different even if the restrictions were lifted in Pakistan. I'm 35 now and something's got to give."
Earlier, Moeen had expressed his desire to be a part of McCullum's new 'Bazball approach' under which they take the attack to the opposition instead of staying in the middle for long hours. The new approach helped the Ben Stokes-led side clean sweep New Zealand and beat India in the rescheduled Test as well. The decision to unretire was taken in the commentary box by the 35-year-old.
One of the main reasons why he does not want to return to Test cricket the hectic "limited-overs schedule" and franchise leagues to which he has committed already. Now, he wants to spend time with his family instead of being on tour for a better part of the year.
In the absence of limited-overs captain Jos Buttler, Ali led England to victory in the historic seven-T20I series against Babar Azam-led Pakistan. This was the first T20I series England played in Pakistan. Also, England toured Pakistan after a huge gap of 17 years.
The Birmingham-born batter has played 64 Test. The left-handed batter has scored 2,914 runs at an average of 28.29 including five centuries and 14 half-centuries. With the ball, the off-spinner has taken 195 wickets including five fifers.
