Moeen Ali 'feels for' England players having to make tough choices

Moeen Ali ‘feels for’ the players having to make tough choices due to packed schedule with England facing Bangladesh in ODI just 24 hours after the Test side were beaten in thriller by New Zealand

  • England lost to New Zealand by one run in one of the all-time great finishes
  • Test match finished just 24 hours before one-day series begins in Bangladesh
  • Jos Buttler knows his best side ahead of England’s ODI World Cup defence

It wasn’t until Moeen Ali boarded the England bus for training on Tuesday that he realised the Test team had lost an epic Test on another continent.

Moeen, one of several Muslim players on the tour of Bangladesh, had got up early for morning prayer, to discover the tourists had been reduced to 80 for five in Wellington, and having returned to bed, forgot to check the score after waking shortly after midday for afternoon practice.

‘Someone said “did you watch the game?” I heard about the stuff that happened, that there should have been a wide, and so I watched the highlights on YouTube on the journey to the ground,’ revealed England vice-captain Moeen.

A Test match finishing just under 24 hours before a one-day series begins here has prevented England fielding something like their preferred XI in conditions at Mirpur that should prove ideal preparation for October’s World Cup in India.

A rare occurrence, if not unique – England played two Tests simultaneously versus New Zealand and West Indies in 1930 – it is also an unsatisfactory one from a player’s perspective, according to Moeen, showing where a modern international game struggling for room to breathe in a bustling franchise world is heading. Players are having their career choices made for them.

Moeen Ali ‘feels for’ England players having to make tough choices due to packed schedule

Moeen with Adil Rashid during a net session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium

’In my situation, it’s obviously fine because I don’t play Test matches but I feel for other players. I remember when I was a bit younger and first played for England. I wanted to play all forms all of the time and be in and around the England team, whether it was white ball, red ball, whatever it was,’ he said.

‘I’ve got 100 ODIs and 60 odd Tests to my name, and that means I feel like I’ve played a lot for England. That’s something to be really proud of, I guess, when you finish.’

The fixtures clash means Joe Root and Harry Brook are absent, along with the injured Jonny Bairstow, against a team that like the New Zealanders, you under-estimate at your peril. 

Bangladesh have won every 50-over series they have played on home soil since an England team captained by Jos Buttler claimed a 2-1 victory here in October 2016 – the latest a 2-1 success over India in December. 

England lost to New Zealand by one run in one of the all-time great finishes on Tuesday 

In contrast, England have lost the lion’s share of their ODIs against Test playing nations since becoming world champions.

‘Even though people think “it’s Bangladesh and we should walk it,” they’re actually a very good side, and the way they play their cricket is difficult to play against at times,’ Moeen, a Bangladesh Premier League winner with Comilla Victorians earlier this month, continued.

‘The way they bowl, for example, they bowl low under-cutters that spin and skid on and when they’re on top of you, they’re really on top of you. It’s difficult. They’re so good in these conditions.’

With spin prevalent, there will be an onus on the Warwickshire all-rounder to bowl plenty of overs on this trip, but he concedes he has lacked rhythm since giving up on first-class cricket, and has taken just 12 wickets in 25 ODIs since 2019.

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