Moeen Ali ready to come out of Test retirement to play under new England coach Brendon McCullum – Report

Moeen had called time on his Test career last year in September.

Moeen Ali | GettyEngland all-rounder Moeen Ali is willing to come out of retirement to play Test cricket under the new head coach in the format, Brendon McCullum.

Notably, Moeen had called time on his Test career last year following the home series against India, citing that he took this decision to prolong his white-ball career.

According to a report in Daily Mail, Moeen has told McCullum that he is open to make a comeback in Test cricket and play his part in changing the fortunes of the national side in the traditional format.

Apart from Moeen, McCullum is keen to bring back the likes of Jos Buttler and leg-spinner Adil Rashid to the Test side along with Liam Livingstone.

Known for playing an aggressive brand of cricket as a player and coach, McCullum believes if a player is dominating in one format there is no reason he can't do that in another format.

"Jos is one of those players you look at instantly and think how could he be so dominant in one form of the game and not quite have found his feet, other than a few fleeting performances, in Test cricket?

"There's no reason why, if you're good at T20, you can't bring those skills into Test cricket," McCullum said on Buttler, who has smashed 824 runs in 16 innings in the IPL 2022 season while playing for the Rajasthan Royals.

"I'm sure if Mo [Moeen Ali] wanted to [play Test cricket] and was prepared to put the yards in to make it back into the side then he'd challenge, no doubt. Livingstone, Moeen, Rashid. All these guys have played international cricket before, been successful in the other forms of the game and you'd think they'd be able to transition across, but we'll see," he added.

Brendon McCullum's first assignment as England Test coach will be against New Zealand, starting June 2 at Lord's.

(Inputs from Daily Mail)

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 29 May, 2022

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