Trevor Bayliss may have finally conceded that Moeen Ali is England’s No1 spinner following a profitable spell of kidology this summer, but despite the 25 wickets claimed by his off-breaks in the series win over South Africa, Moeen will continue to consider himself a batsman first.
Moeen is riding high at present. A match-winning showing at Old Trafford of seven wickets with the ball and a momentum-shifting unbeaten 75 with the bat capped an impactful performance throughout the 3-1 series victory and once again underlined the 30-year-old’s value to the captain Joe Root and head coach Bayliss as one of three talented all-rounders.
They all fired at some stage of the series, too – Ben Stokes with a mature century at The Oval and as the best fielder throughout, Jonny Bairstow with his 99 in Manchester and vastly improved wicketkeeping – and yet Moeen’s bowling was the biggest revelation, particularly given the 4-0 defeat in India last year when he took 10 wickets at 64 apiece. “I’d like to see how I go [in India] now,” said Moeen after his five-wicket burst on the fourth day in Manchester. “It would be tough because they are obviously fantastic players of spin. But I think the work that I have put in … it would be nice to think I’d take a load of wickets.”
Moeen put such new-found confidence with the ball down to England’s spin consultant, Saqlain Mushtaq, and an ever-blossoming relationship since the former Pakistan player came into to the setup last summer. Ideally, Moeen would like Saqlain’s role made permanent rather than the 100-days-a-year deal now in place.
He said: “Saqi has been amazing for me in terms of helping with my fields and to understand my bowling a lot more. Before, I just bowled and didn’t really think too much. I let the captain set the field. But I would say I set the field a lot more throughout this series.”
Having trained harder than ever this summer and through some sound guidance – the key wicket of Hashim Amla on the fourth day followed a brief off-field chat with Saqlain – Moeen is ultimately starting to think more like a bowler. But while his hat-trick at The Oval was “once in a lifetime stuff”, turning his arm over remains the second love.
“No matter how many wickets I get, I’m definitely always going to be a batter,” said Moeen, who once again showed his flexibility by moving back down to No8 midway through the series. “I feel like it is the strong point of my game and when the opportunity comes to bat up the order, hopefully I can do that. But I think the team needed me there in this series.”
Moeen remains an outsider for the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year with the bookmakers and cricket’s battle for visibility may explain this in part, but it still seems anomalous that the down to earth Brummie and Barmy Army favourite is not in the running.
Perhaps this will change before the year is out. Moeen has dominated the sports pages in recent weeks. The pictures of him swamped by team-mates when celebrating his successes have been powerful in the current climate too, as a patriotic British Asian and devout Muslim who is both different to his colleagues and yet ultimately the same.
Moeen has always embraced his role-model status in this regard and the England dressing room has never been anything other than accepting of it; a move by the former captain, Alastair Cook, to ensure Moeen was in the team’s celebration photos at Old Trafford, before the shower of champagne that sees him step to one side, was one such glimpse into the respect. “I’m obviously very grateful for that. They understand, it’s just something I always do. I don’t feel I miss out – it’s just spraying a bottle, not that exciting really,” said Moeen, who joked he would mix up his own celebrations by drinking both Coke and Sprite.
On the current team environment, he added: “I think it is a great mix of youth and experience. We do have a great laugh and I really enjoy being in the changing room. Unless you are in there, you don’t really realise how funny and open the guys are.”
