Exhausted Moeen Ali walks away from Test cricket with missed opportunities, unfulfilled ambitions

Moeen Ali has announced that he will no longer play Test cricket and he has emphasised how he reached that big decision.

He was called up to play in the recently-concluded home series against India after the first Test and Moeen has said that he struggled to “concentrate” on any aspect of the game to such an extent that he got the hint that he was “done” from the longest format of the game.

Explaining his decision-making process, Moeen said that he felt that he wasn’t in with all his mind although he gave all he had to offer. He said it became impossible to feel belonged mentally although he was loving the return to Test cricket and relishing competition.

Moeen was criticised for playing a “rash” shot in the first innings of the Oval Test that turned the tide in favour of India when all looked perfect for England. Moeen said that getting out to poor shots was not something new for him but it confirmed his feeling of not being “wholeheartedly” into it to himself.

Moeen finished his 64-match long Test career with little distance from an iconic double landmark of 3,000 runs and 200 wickets and he did want to reach the milestones before hanging his boots. However, the final Test against India did not take place which prompted him to think “that was it”.

"I felt like I was done, to be honest. I was hoping to play the last Test - there were a couple of milestones I wanted to pass - but once that game got called off, I realised that was it. Headingley was a great win but I just found I couldn't concentrate. I've played rash shots before and had poor games before. But I just felt like I wasn't in it. I've never felt that before. It's not that I didn't want to perform, I just didn't feel like I was fully wholeheartedly into it,” Moeen said.

"You try your best. I just found it really hard to get in the zone bowling, batting and in the field. And the more I tried, I just couldn't do it. In the past when I came back into the team, it might take a bit of 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 dressing room. But I just found cricketing-wise it was a bit of a struggle."

Moeen never went away from the radar of the selectors and the team for the longest format but since the 2019 Ashes series at home, he was never a permanent member of the side. He was brought into the squad for the second Test of the series against India in Chennai before flew back home as part of a pre-scheduled rotation policy.

The move was criticised heavily and the team management was ridiculed for not having clear communication with Moeen on what sort of plan and future they have in their mind for him. Later, he was overlooked for the home series against New Zealand and then the first Test against India. 

Only a below-par performance in the first Test when the hosts missed the services and all-around ability of Ben Stokes that Joe Root and Chris Silverwood called him up back to the Test squad.

He was stripped off England’s central contract and Moeen looks back on the development as a turning point that “did break” him up a bit. He acknowledged poor performances in the 2019 summer with the ball but also lamented inadequate preparation for bowling in Test matches against an all-strength Australia side.

Moeen said that he felt he was going through the “peak” phase of his bowling and the contract snub was a tough pill to swallow. He said that the ECB explained to him that the team was not sure of the amount of cricket he will play in the longest format behind the move to not give him a contract.

Having seen his career at crossroads, he decided to explore career opportunities in franchise cricket and by the time England recalled him to the Test squad against India in Chennai, he was already destined on a different path.

"That did break me a little bit. I felt like I had a poor game [at Edgbaston in 2019] and rightly got dropped. But I felt I was at my peak in my bowling to that point. If you look back now, I didn't play towards the back end of the World Cup. We then had a Test against Ireland in which I hardly bowled and then two days of training for the first Ashes Test. It rained on those days, so I bowled indoors.

"So, I didn't really get the preparation I would have liked and I didn't bowl very well in that game. But I felt like I was still at the peak of my bowling. Prior to that, I was bowling better than I ever had in Test cricket. And then I didn't get a contract. I had asked for a break and was told it was because they weren't sure how much I was going to play. It was very disappointing at the time. So I looked to crack on and play franchise cricket.

"But then it possibly took too long to make my way back into the team. I didn't play enough first-class cricket and by the time I did get back into the team for that one Test in Chennai, I was on a different path. I don't think I lost interest in Test cricket but I think I lost the ability to do it as best as you can.

Moeen was in contention to play another Ashes series in Australia irrespective of his harrowing record in the country and he admitted that the ambition of playing a high-profile series on the pitches he has not done well so far crossed his mind. However, he chose to walk out of it citing his own uncertainty and said that the feeling he developed while playing against India was strong enough to call it a day.

"There was part of me thinking about the Ashes this winter. I would have loved to go back and do well because last time I didn't do so well. But I just felt like I couldn't do it for that long. It's such a long trip if I'm not 'in it'. If I felt like I did in India when I was out there, then I would probably retire after one match. So it's done," Moeen said.

England will have to quickly find a spin-bowling all-rounder as the readymade option of playing Moeen Ali on spin-friendly condition is shut once for all. England don’t have a rich cupboard of spinners and Moeen’s retirement will only compound the complexity and spin-bowling issues for England cricket and the team management led by Root and Silverwood.