Moeen views Ashes return as a ‘free hit’ after short-notice recall

Speaking at Edgbaston, ahead of Friday’s first Test against Australia, Moeen was phlegmatic, even self-deprecating about his merits as Jack Leach’s replacement. Leach’s stress fracture of the back has brought Moeen back into the fray after stepping away from the format at the end of the 2021 summer.

The last of Moeen’s 64 Tests came in September 2021, when he moved exclusively into limited-overs cricket. It was after news of Leach’s injury had been confirmed on the Sunday after the conclusion of England’s victory over Ireland, that Moeen was contacted about the possibility of returning.

The conversation, first instigated by Stokes with a message simply saying “Ashes?” – Moeen, oblivious to Leach’s diagnosis, replied simply with “lol”, thinking it was a joke – eventually came to a positive conclusion last Tuesday.

“Probably not, no,” said Moeen when asked if he’d have answered the call of duty if someone other than Stokes had asked. Naturally, he found the opportunity to play in the environment created under Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum too good turn down, particularly with the carrot of a high-profile Ashes series.

“Just the fact that it’s the Ashes and it’s such a big series and the exciting cricket the guys have been playing,” he explained. “It’s a kind of era I’d have loved when I was playing [previously]. It’s the Ashes: to be part of it would be amazing.

“When I retired I was done and that was the end of playing. But the unfortunate injury to Leachy meant I got a message and a call from Stokesy and Baz and Keysy [Rob Key]. So let’s see what happens.

“I don’t look at it like a Test career. It is a free hit. I’m not playing for my spot. There’s no pressure, really. There is pressure of the occasion and the game, but I spoke to Baz and he said he’s not bothered about how I perform, which is quite nice.

“As an individual, I want to do well and contribute to winning games. All the things I ever wanted to do in Test cricket I’m going to try to do in these games. It could be dangerous, it could be not so dangerous. We’ll see.

“I spoke to Stokesy about how he talked to batters and he just said, ‘It would be perfect for you and the way you play’. There’s no question marks over any shots you play; that gives me licence to play a few more rash shots I guess. Even with the ball, he’s more on the aggressive side. I know I’d go for runs but he knows there’s also some wicket-taking deliveries in between, which is all he cares about really.”

There remains understandable reservations about how Moeen effectively will replace Leach given the scale of his work across all of Stokes’ 13 Tests so far. As well as being the joint leading wicket-taker since the start of last summer with 47 dismissals, Leach has bowled 515.1 overs, 179 more than any other bowler.

Moeen, however, does not anticipate any issues. Despite subsisting on limited-overs cricket, most recently dealing in four-over stints when called upon in the IPL, he said he would not have chosen to return to Test cricket if he did not think he could manage the workload.

“If I didn’t think I could get through overs, I probably would have said no,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been bowling a lot in practice and over in India I bowled quite a bit. I think I’ll be fine. It will be fielding that will be the hardest thing, being out there for the whole day. Again, you get used to it after a day and it will be fine.

“During the IPL, most of the time when you bowl it’s more than four overs. I bowl quite a bit in practice. I think that’s one of the reasons why Stokesy did give me a call because I was working on trying to be as tight as I can.”

Bowling “tight” however, is unlikely to be his remit. Even at the height of a career that returned 195 wickets, an economy rate of 3.61, while not outrageous, spoke of an offspinner who was not known for restricting batters. Indeed Moeen’s clarity in the new set-up emanates from openly accepting his shortcomings in pursuit of the wicket-taking deliveries, particularly with Australia’s left-hand-heavy top order.

“I’ve never been able to hold an end up,” Moeen said. “When I have, it’s because I’ve been taking wickets. That’s the only time I’ve been able to build any pressure. Ben and Baz know that. You want to take wickets all the time. There might be times I do need to build pressure and play what’s in front of me. I’m sure they know what they are going to get from me – there won’t be a lot of maidens.

“I’ve hardly ever bowled for England where I’ve thought I need to go at two an over, because I just know I’ve never been able to do that from a young age. They have lefties. But I know they’re brilliant players of spin and a lot of them are very dangerous. They’ve been quite successful in India against Ashwin and these guys.

“I know it’s going to be hard work. Yes of course, being left-handers, it’s nice for an offspinner to bowl at them, but it is also hard work against a top side like this. I’m going to have to bowl well.”

As for how Australia will approach him, he is well aware he will be targeted: “If I was them, I’d do the same. I’m expecting them to come after me, which could be dangerous because Stokesy likes having the fielders up. It could go for a lot of runs.”

All told, Moeen against Australia has been a very one-sided battle. Having taken 12 wickets in 2015 – the last time England won the Ashes – he was taken apart for an average of 115 across five Tests of the 2017/18 series, before losing his place to Leach after the first Test in 2019.

An overall average of 64.65 speaks of the problems they have posed him. But heading into his fourth Ashes, Moeen hopes age will help him come up with solutions.

“The majority of those numbers were in Australia, where I’ve found it quite difficult to bowl,” he said. “I did have a couple of little issues there, but they have always played me well. I have picked up a few wickets here and there, particularly in England.

“I think I’m a bit smarter with my bowling 1686672626. When I played previously, I just bowled and didn’t think too much about it. I know I’ve been out of the game, but have thought if I played Australia again I would do this differently, or this differently. I’m going to try to do those things.”