Moeen Ali retires with 64 test matches for England, having scored 2,916 runs and taken 195 wickets; Ali will specialize in cue ball cricket for England, county cricket for Worcestershire and in national T20 tournaments.
Moeen Ali has retired from test cricket
England all-rounder Moeen Ali has retired from test cricket.
The 34-year-old, who made 64 test appearances after debuting in 2014, leaves the game’s longest format with 2,916 runs and 195 wickets.
Moeen, who is part of the England team for the T20 World Cup later this month, intends to continue playing limited-limit cricket both domestically and internationally.
“I am 34 years old now and I want to play as long as I can and I just want to enjoy my cricket,” Moeen said in a statement issued by the ECB.
“I’ve enjoyed test cricket, but that intensity can be too much at times and I feel like I’ve done enough and I’m happy and content with how I’ve done it.”
In a separate interview with ESPNcricinfo, Moeen said that he had “struggled” mentally during this summer’s test series against India, which helped him make the decision to retire.
Having initially dropped out of the England team, Moeen was called up for the second Test at Lord’s and made his first Test appearance at home since the 2019 Ashes.
Moeen played the first Test against Australia two years ago at Edgbaston before taking a break from all forms of cricket after he was skipped for the second match of the series.
England lost at Lord’s but tied the series at Headingley, before India won at the Oval to take a 2-1 lead, after which Test 5 at Old Trafford was postponed due to coronavirus concerns among the team. from India.
“I felt like it was over, to be honest,” Ali said. “I was hoping to play the last test, there were a couple of milestones I wanted to pass, but once the (Old Trafford) game was canceled, I realized that was it.
“Headingley was a great win, but I found that I couldn’t focus. I had played snap shots before and had bad games before. But I felt like I wasn’t into it. I’ve never felt that before. It’s not that I didn’t want to act, just not. I felt like he was wholeheartedly in it.
“Do your best. It was very difficult for me to get into the bowling, batting and field zone. And the more I tried, I just couldn’t. In the past, when I came back to the team, it might take a little time. , but then I’m all in. But that series, I just couldn’t do it.
“The atmosphere felt really good. It was really nice to be back in the locker room. But I thought cricket was a bit tricky.”
