As England embarked on the limited-overs tour of South Africa, veteran English all-rounder Moeen Ali is determined to rediscover his form during the upcoming series after an 18-month spell on the sidelines as the team had their first training session at Newlands on Wednesday (November 18).
The 33-year-old admitted to his struggles in the last 18 months, where he faced a significant loss of form, averaging just 15.36 with the bat in ODIs and 114.9 with the ball since the beginning of 2019, and even lost the off-spinner lost his place in the Test side after recording match figures of 3/172 against the Australians in Birmingham last year – the game tourists won by a massive 251 runs.
However, after a difficult spell in his England career, the spinner believes he has rediscovered the necessary “mental space” to thrive in the international arena as he is aiming to give his all in the upcoming months to return back at one of the best teams in the world cricket.
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Moeen told reporters in Newlands: “My priority is to try to get my game to the level I know I can get it first of all. There’s an opportunity to become one of the greatest sides ever. I want to give my all in the next couple of years to try and be part of this. I know I haven’t got that long left in international cricket, depending on fitness and form, but I’ll try my best to get to that level. I must just play as much cricket as I can and play as best as I can.”
He further explained, “There have been glimpses here and there but I know deep down that I haven’t done well over a period of time. It’s my job to really go out and perform. It’s more a mental thing – I need to get into a mental space, which I feel like I’ve been working on for the last four or five months. It's been difficult. But it's about clearing everything out and starting afresh.”
Meanwhile, the all-rounder has also expressed his hunger to play Test cricket for England after admitted to having lost the hunger for the five-day format, but he is now desperate to feature in The Ashes in Australia next year.
He added, “A year-and-a-half ago, I lost that hunger to play Test cricket, but I feel like over the last six months it is coming back. I have been thinking a lot about my game and if the call did come, I would be keen on it. I have not retired or anything, but probably have just taken a step back from the Test game.”
Noteworthy, Ali has 181 test wickets and 2,782 runs, including five centuries to his name, but for now, the all-rounder is concentrating on the shortest format of the game with two Twenty20 World Cups line-up the next two years since is currently part of England’s white-ball set up.
(With Reuters Inputs)
