Joe Root hails ‘wonderful role model’ in wake of Moeen Ali’s Test retirement

Captain admits to regrets as allrounder chooses to step away from red-ball cricket

Joe Root, England’s Test captain, says that Moeen Ali will be remembered as a “wonderful role model” and “one of the great guys to play alongside”, in the wake of his decision to retire from Test cricket, but admits he’ll have some regrets about the circumstances that persuaded one of England’s premier allrounders to focus his attentions on the white-ball form of the game.

Moeen confirmed his decision in a joint interview with ESPNcricinfo and the Guardian on Monday morning, claiming that he had struggled to “get into the zone” during his three-match comeback against India this summer. He also admitted that the circumstances of his axing from the squad in 2019, when he was omitted after the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston then lost his ECB central contract later that summer, “did break [him] a little bit”.

Root captained Moeen in 27 of his 64 Tests, including his very first match in the role, at Lord’s in 2017, when Root himself scored 190 while Moeen was named Player of the Match for his ten-wicket haul and an innings of 87 from 149 balls. He finished that same series with a remarkable double of 252 runs and 25 wickets – the first player in Test history to do so in a four-match series. That tally included a hat-trick at The Oval, while in his retirement interview, he recalled his carefree half-century in the final Test at Old Trafford as the single best day of his career.

“First and foremost, it goes without saying that Mo’s career speaks for itself and what he has achieved,” Root said during a Zoom interview organised by the PCA. “He’s done some wonderful things in Test cricket. He’s been one of the great guys to play alongside. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed sharing that dressing room with him and we’ve had so many wonderful memories, on the field and off the field.”