England might have made the wrong decision of replacing Jack Leach with Moeen Ali after the spinner who came out of retirement in Tests after two years to play in the 2023 Ashes injured himself during the first Test itself.
Moeen has been playing through the pain and this tactic backfired in one over which forced him off the field after.
In that over, Moeen bowled a full toss then two short balls the second of which Marnus Labuschagne carved to the boundary — to highlight the issue he was having in his first test for nearly two years after coming out of retirement in cricket's longest format.
It would have hurt England, who set Australia a target of 281 for the win, and he returned with a patched-up finger to bowl one more over just before stumps. His availability for the second test at Lord's was questioned by former limited overs skipper Eoin Morgan.
“(It's a problem) for tomorrow and the rest of the series,” former England captain Eoin Morgan told Sky Sports. "They have plucked him from almost obscurity and he's bowling a huge volume.
“That over (against Labuschagne), with those three deliveries, he actually bowled himself out of the attack, which happens very, very rarely, particularly in test matches. Yes, you are exposed the whole time but this very rarely happens. There is a clear hindrance, him trying to bowl.” Ali bowled 33 overs in Australia's first innings, quite the workload for a player who has only played the shorter formats since September 2021.
He was brought back despite a lack of first-class cricket in something of a gamble by Stokes, following an injury to first-choice spinner Jack Leach that has ruled him out of the entire series.
Weather conditions might see England rely less on spin on Day 5 anyway when Australia will resume on 107-3 and still need 174 more runs. “If conditions are how we think they are going to be – the overhead, with possibly swing and sea on offer — we won't see a lot of Moeen Ali,” Morgan concluded.
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