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Moeen Ali’s Test career encapsulated why we watch cricket. There was brilliance but there were also, as Moeen would say himself, those brain fade moments. It is what makes sport, and Moeen Ali in particular, so watchable.
Moeen, who confirmed his Test retirement on Monday, ended up with almost 3,000 runs and nearly 200 wickets and that is the record of a genuine Test all-rounder. But he was certainly a man of extremes.
I don’t think our commentary box has gushed as much over the shots of anyone in the last six or seven years as Moeen — and there was a cover drive in his last Test against India this summer at the Oval that made everyone go ‘wow’ — but then he tried to slog sweep Ravindra Jadeja and top-edged it straight up in the air. It was Mo in a nutshell.
England all-rounder Moeen Ali has confirmed his retirement from Test match cricket
When he did things like that he frustrated England supporters and himself but he never frustrated his team-mates. They absolutely loved him and I can just imagine the warmth of the messages they would have been sending him on the team WhatsApp.
Those ups and downs meant he did underachieve with the bat. When he emerged at Warwickshire and then at Worcestershire you felt ‘this lad can play’. He should have averaged more than 28 in Tests with the bat. He was better than that.
But few would have expected him to take 195 Test wickets and end up ahead of Jim Laker in the all-time list, and behind only Graeme Swann and Derek Underwood among England spinners. He perhaps even surprised himself by becoming a Test-class spinner, capable of getting the very best out on his day.
Moeen made a total of 64 Test appearances for England after making his debut in 2014
Moeen was more than his stats. He did everything with the team in mind and as such he batted in every
