Moin Ali is the English day hawk. #3 for the rest of the Ashes series Photo: PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images
It's only been seven weeks since Ben Stokes sent a WhatsApp message to Moin Ali, simply saying “Ash?”. Unaware that Jack Leach was injured and now retired for two years, Moin responded with an embarrassed “LOL”.
Because Moin survived the Ashes rollercoaster ride with an injury (split spinning finger), a milestone (200 -th test wicket) and now an extraordinary promotion to No. 3 in the innings order.
What's notable about this pick is not that number 3 is new to Moen. In fact, this is where he most wished he had batted when he was a youth. When he comes out to play at Old Trafford, it will be his 100th first-class innings in that position. Including several test innings, he averages 48.9, including nine centuries. He has done this work before.
Even more remarkable, the move up the order comes against this particular opponent in 2023, when Moen is 36 years old and on loan back to the team (by his own admission, he is unlikely to play again after this streak). Moen's average Test score is 23.4 against Australia and has averaged 16 across all Test cricket over the past five years. In his last 17 innings, he had more ducks (three) than 30 or more points (two), and his record is 43.
Moin volunteered for the job in the second inning at Headingley. , because he thought it was the best arrangement of the top seven in England. This returned Harry Brook to 5th place, where Moen felt “the impact he can make is a lot more than he probably can at 3rd at the moment.” At least on the first occasion, Moin was right, as Brook scored 75 victory points. This also allowed Johnny Bairstow to drop to 7th while keeping a wicket.Brandon McCallum (left) and Moin Ali during a networking session at Lord's. Photo: Mike Egerton/PA
Moen has spent the last week at boarding school in Edgbaston practicing, especially playing ball late and direct (which we haven't seen from him in some time), but his expectations are certainly low. When asked about the 'hundred ashes' idea, he said: 'Obviously, that would be awesome. But you have to be a little more realistic.”
“If I can just play 10 overs and we get through that hardness of the ball, it will probably be easier for the other guys to get into the game, especially in a chase like this,” Moin said. “If I win once in four strokes, if I play next time and fold the rest, it will be a decent job.”
“I know you want your best players to be higher in order and three is a big number in Test cricket. But really, for this side at the moment, with Popi out of the squad, it's a short-term prospect. And I don't think it will change too much, because everyone else stays where they are.”
At Headingley, Moen was cautious at number 3, but maybe he should expect more aggression this time around.
“It wasn't just about hitting 10 overs, whether I was throwing or not,” he said. “I might be better off with a few more shots, I think Baz [Brandon McCallum] wants me to take a few more shots.”
Does all this make him, in the spirit of Lionel Messi, a false three? Or, like a slightly more sophisticated version of Stuart Broad, the daytime hawk?
Moen wore so many different hats for England – and we don't mean the ubiquitous bucket hat – that he had long since stopped caring about his average indicator (27.8). But he has the ability to change his legacy.
Having taken 200 Test wickets, he excelled with the ball, but given that he made the first of his five hundred in the second Test and the last almost seven years ago, he did not succeed with the bat. However, he was only 23 runs away to become the 16th person to double out of 3,000 trial runs and 200 wickets.
“I think it means more to my dad! It would mean a lot to me too, but my dad really wants it, so hopefully I can get there,” he said. “I know it's only 20+ runs, but it looks like there's still a lot of miles to go!”
Few Test 3 test takers would have found 23 runs to be a daunting task, but by his own admission, the tests were not so much. There are no triplets like this one.
Recent Comments