Moeen Ali named in XI to face Australia in first Test of this summer's men's Ashes following his return to England's red-ball squad; James Anderson and Ollie Robinson also return; watch The Ashes live on Sky Sports from Friday (9.30am on air, first ball at 11am)
Thursday 15 June 2023 10:32, UK
Moeen Ali will make his first Test appearance for England in nearly two years after being named in the team to face Australia in the opening match of this year's men's Ashes.
The 35-year-old answered the call from England captain Ben Stokes to return to the red-ball team after spinner Jack Leach was ruled out of this summer's five-Test series due to a stress fracture in his back.
Warwickshire all-rounder Moeen has now been confirmed in the XI to face Australia at his home ground of Edgbaston in the first Test, which gets under way on Friday and is live on Sky Sports.
"The fact that it is The Ashes and it is such a big series, to be part of it would be amazing," said Moeen, following his call-up to the squad for the first two Tests at Edgbaston and Lord's.
"The exciting cricket the guys have been playing, it's an era I would have loved when I was playing [before].
"I am a guy who goes with the flow. At the moment it's just these two games, so let's see what happens."
Moeen has taken 195 wickets at an average of 36.66 in 64 Tests for England, with only Graeme Swann and Derek Underwood ahead of him on the list of most wickets taken by a spinner for the team.
A destructive batter in limited overs cricket, the left-hander has made 2,914 runs in Tests with a highest score of 155 not out, and his attacking approach in the lower order will surely be embraced by skipper Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum.
Elsewhere, James Anderson and Ollie Robinson make their respective returns to spearhead the seam attack with Stuart Broad after missing the 10-wicket win in the one-off Test against Ireland at Lord's at the start of June.
Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts are the players who make way, while Broad is preferred to the raw pace of Mark Wood, even with fellow express bowlers Jofra Archer and Olly Stone sidelined due to injury.
Anderson missed England's first home Test of the year due to a groin strain picked up on county duty for Lancashire, while Robinson experienced irritation in his Achilles tendon while in action for Sussex. However, both have fully recovered to take on Australia.
"I guess every team that goes into a series has got a couple of little things that you need to work through, but [I'm] pretty confident we'll have a good squad to be able to pick from," McCullum told Sky Sports last month.
"When I first took over this job, people said there wasn't much depth in English cricket and I disagree with that completely.
"I think there is an immense amount of depth and we've got plenty of good options throughout the squad."
Former England captain and Sky Sports Cricket expert Michael Atherton was surprised by Moeen's recall to the squad and revealed he would not have picked him for this Test due to his previous reticence to reverse his decision to retire from red-ball cricket.
"I wouldn't have picked Moeen Ali, but then I'm not Ben Stokes and I'm not 'Bazball'," Atherton told Sky Sports News.
"It's an amazing selection when you think about it because Moeen Ali had retired from Test cricket, hasn't played in it since September 2021, had a conversation with Brendon McCullum about coming back before the Pakistan tour and said, basically, he was done with it.
"So I wouldn't for those reasons - but I can see the attraction. If he's back to his best, you've got a batter who fits the mould of the current side and somebody who has taken a lot of wickets in Test cricket."
Although Stokes had previously spoken about having a 90pm-plus bowling option for the first Test, Atherton understood why England had ultimately decided to go with Broad over Wood for the series-opener against their old rivals, not least of all the threat posed by David Warner with the bat.
"There are three reasons I think they've picked Broad over Wood," Atherton said. "First is the David Warner factor - Broad got him in a right tangle here four years ago and dismissed him seven times.
"The second is the sense of occasion: They feel Broad is a big match player, I think only three bowlers in history have taken more Ashes wickets, so they feel he'll rise to the occasion.
"The third is he has actually played cricket more recently than some others. He played in the Ireland Test, took six wickets, showed himself to be fit and in good fettle."
Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson.
