England men’s all-rounder Moeen Ali has decided to call time on his Test match career.
Discussing his decision, Ali said, “I’m 34 now and I want to play for as long as I can and I just want to enjoy my cricket. Test cricket is amazing, when you’re having a good day it’s better than any other format by far, it’s more rewarding and you feel like you’ve really earned it.”
Ali reminisced his past days and how he will miss "walking out" with his team mates.
“I will miss just walking out there with the lads, playing against best in the World with that feeling of nerves but also from a bowling point of view, knowing with my best ball I could get anyone out'" Ali said.
Talking about his decision to retire from the red-ball cricket, the all-rounder said,
“I’ve enjoyed Test Cricket but that intensity can be too much sometime and I feel like I’ve done enough of it and I’m happy and content with how I’ve done.”
Ali thanked his coaches, captains and all of his family for their support during his Test career.
“I have to thank Peter Moores and Chris Silverwood for being my coaches and Peter for giving me my debut. Cookie and Rooty as the captains who I’ve enjoyed playing under and I hope they are happy with how I played.”
Ali hopes that his Test career will inspire and open the door for other British Muslims to play for England.
The all-rounder began his Test career in 2014 against Sri Lanka on June 12 and has since scored 2914 Test runs at an average of 28.29 including 5 hundreds and 14 half-centuries with the best score of 155. In addition to that, he has taken 195 wickets with an average of 36.66 with best figures of 53/6. He was a part of recent home series against India where he had played three Tests.
Ali has 64 Test matches under his belt including England’s 28 Test victories and nine series wins. Ali is third on the list of England's highest wicket-takers for a spinners. Derek Underwood (297 wickets) and Graeme Swann (255 wickets) are the only two spinners have more Test wickets than Ali. Also, since his debut, his five five-wicket hauls are bettered only by star bowler James Anderson and Stuart Broad. It’s not just with the ball he shone for England, but as a batter, Moeen in 2016 scored four Test centuries in the calendar year, an achievement that has been recorded only by Root and former skipper Alastair Cook among Englishmen in the past decade.
