Moeen Ali believes he can make up for his lack of experience when England attempt to regain the Ashes this summer and overcome a recent blip to perform as the side’s frontline spinner.
Moeen’s place in the England team is not certain but the 27-year-old is expected to be selected for the first Ashes Test in Cardiff on 8 July despite having endured a difficult run in the series against West Indies and New Zealand.
With England’s spin options limited, Moeen was omitted from the one-day international squad and instead instructed to restore some rhythm with the red ball on the county circuit with Worcestershire. He took four wickets in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s but was often punished in the second innings, while Headingley only brought one wicket in difficult conditions.
Moeen admitted it has been “tough” to bat so far down the order – coming in at eight against New Zealand – but is determined to focus on his bowling before he is potentially put under scrutiny by Australia.
“I’ve been told to go and get ready for the Ashes and hopefully get some overs and wickets under my belt, so that’s all I’m going to do. If I get picked then obviously I’m very happy, if not then best of luck to the others that get picked,” he said.
“It is a big learning curve, because every time I have bowled on a pitch that has really spun in county cricket I’ve done all right and bowled sides out.
“I knew there would be bumps in my development – I expected that teams would come hard at me and sometimes that can work in my favour – it did against India.
“They tried to come hard at me and I picked up wickets and then they went cautious and that also fell into my hands. Hopefully this is just a bit of a blip and I can get plenty of bowling at Worcestershire and I can get some rhythm.”
Moeen revealed his hunger to feature against Australia having watched Ashes series avidly as a youngster, recalling how he was in the Edgbaston crowd as a nine-year-old in 1997, but admitted he is still learning how to be a frontline international spinner.
“I haven’t got a lot of experience as a frontline bowler, I don’t feel like I have a lot of experience,” Moeen said. “I have had a year of international experience and a few years at Worcestershire but every time I bowl I feel like I am learning a lot. I just need to get more consistent about my action. Just keep bowling and hopefully do what I did last year.”
On batting at No8, he said: “It’s tough, it’s not easy. It worked perfectly at Lord’s batting with Cook and Buttler. But it’s tough when the guys below me come in and I have to try to bat more positively.”
Moeen Ali was speaking at the launch of the Royal London Gilbert Cup, a new grassroots under-11 cricket tournament. cccwww.royallondoncricket.com
