While talking to Sky Sports ahead of the Ashes 2023, former England skipper Nasser Hussain said that Moeen Ali should be 100% sure before accepting captain Ben Stokes’s offer to come back to the Test side for the upcoming 5-match series against Australia. After Jack Leach was ruled out of the Ashes 2023 series owing to a low back stress fracture during the one-off Ireland Test match, Stokes and the England management are allegedly approaching Moeen Ali to return to test cricket for the series against Australia.
Hussain said that Moeen has been a fabulous spinner for England as he is the third leading spin bowler for England, however, he should ask himself before returning to red-ball cricket if he wants to get back.
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“Moeen is the third leading spin bowler in Test cricket for England. He has 195 Test wickets, he knows that ground [Edgbaston] very well, he’s a fabulous cricketer. He’s very experienced, and obviously with all their [Australia] left-handers, Moeen Ali is a wonderful bowler to left-handers.
“But the only thing with Moeen is, in an Ashes series, you have to 100 per cent want to be there. It is the biggest stage and you cannot have any thoughts of: ‘Do I really need this? I’d given up Test cricket,” the former skipper added.
Moeen retired from Test cricket in September 2021 during the test series against India. He has played 64 matches and scored 2,914 runs with an average of 28.29. He has also picked up 195 wickets in his test career.
Hussain also suggested names apart from Moeen who can replace Leach. Liam Dawson, and Rehan Ahmed can be possible options.
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