Moeen Ali fined for using a drying agent on his bowling hand against Australia

Moeen Ali had a birthday to forget after he was fined 25 per cent of his £15,000 match fee for drying his hand with a spray during the second day at Edgbaston.

The England spinner, who turned 36 on Sunday, is bowling in a red-ball match for the first time since September 2021 and has been struggling with a blister on his spinning finger caused by the extra workload.

Moeen sent down 29 overs on Saturday and was caught by TV cameras spraying a ‘drying agent’ on his bowling hand by the boundary line towards the end of the day’s play.

Match referee Andy Pycroft was satisfied he had only used the substance to dry his hands and not to change the condition of the ball, which would have been a more serious offence.

However, Moeen was still found to have breached the International Cricket Council’s Code of Conduct for behaviour that was ‘contrary to the spirit of the game’, with umpires having warned players before the series that they could not use anything on their hands without prior approval.

Moeen Ali has been fined after using a drying agent on his hand on the second day of the Test

Ali has has previously had problems with his spinning finger, where he has developed calluses

Ali, who bowled 29 overs on Saturday, has admitted the offence and accepted the sanction

Moeen only bowled four overs on Sunday morning, going for 23 runs, before he left the field. 

He has had problems with blisters previously in his Test career and his latest issue will be a concern for England ahead of Australia’s second innings, when his spin will be vital.

The ICC said in a statement: ‘Moeen Ali has been fined 25 per cent of his match fee for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct. Ali was found to have breached Article 2.20 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to displaying conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game.

‘The incident occurred in the 89th over of Australia’s innings, when Ali sprayed a drying agent on his bowling hand at the boundary line before coming on to bowl the next over, thus defying the umpires’ pre-series instructions about not using anything on their hands without prior approval.’

Moeen, who has also had one demerit point added to his disciplinary record, admitted the offence and accepted the sanction.

In February, India spinner Ravindra Jadeja was also found guilty of a similar offence against Australia and was fined 25 per cent of his match fee by the same match referee.

He was seen applying a soothing cream to a swelling on the index finger of his bowling hand without prior permission from the umpires.