Following a conversation with England’s new head coach, Brendon McCullum, on Sunday morning, all-rounder Moeen Ali has come out of his Test retirement and ‘unretired’ himself ahead of England’s upcoming tour of Pakistan.
After 195 wickets in 64 Tests and five centuries, Moeen announced his retirement from Test cricket in September, citing a lack of ability to “get in the zone” in the game’s longest format.
Moeen Ali has 2914 runs at an average of 28.29 and a strike rate of 51.14 in 64 Tests, with five centuries and 14 half-centuries to his credit. He has also taken 195 wickets, including five five-wicket hauls and one ten-wicket haul.
Moeen Ali set to come out of retirement to make Test comeback for England
Following a conversation with the England Test team’s new head coach, Brendon McCullum, all-rounder Moeen Ali has stated that he is willing to return to the Test format of cricket for this winter’s tour of Pakistan. On Sunday morning, the soon-to-be 35-year-old announced that he is unretired, more than nine months after announcing his retirement from the game’s longest format.
“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 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,” Moeen Ali said.
Moeen Ali, whose family is from Pakistan, is excited to visit the country, which will be England’s first since 2005 and will be a rescheduled trip after the ECB had previously canceled the trip.
“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,” he added.
