Moeen Ali has taken the Shane Warne mantra and put his own spin on it by claiming it is good to lose.
Fellow spin king Warne only ever went as far as to say teams should be prepared to lose in order to win. But after seeing England 's dominant white ball teams brought to their knees three times out of four by a rampant Indian side, the newly signed Warwickshire Bear, reckons defeat might not be such a bad thing after all.
Of course the 35-year-old isn’t suggesting Jos Buttler ’s teams actively try to come second, or even third best as the captain said on Tuesday. It is just that when you are so used to success, and so used to dominating other teams, especially at home, a good dose of reality in the shape of a stinging loss, can help focus the mind for a new coach and captain combination.
“It definitely takes time to bed in for the new management,” said Moeen. “It will take a few defeats which is fine.
“In the past we have won a lot of games, got to a World Cup and lost those crucial games. We have lost a few games at the moment but that is good for us going forward and closer to a World Cup we will start winning.
“We want to win now too but you don’t want to win all games. Sometimes you learn more from losing games.
“We have been dominating for the last few years in a nice way and playing well. We’ve had a lot of success, but sometimes I feel we don’t want to peak too early.”
Well there is no fear of this England side peaking too early when they have been bowled out for 110 and suffered their heaviest loss for 11 years. New head coach Matthew Mott was brought in from the Australian women’s team because of his experience of turning a successful side into a record breaking team that got even better.
That is his challenge now with the England men, but already it is clear that opponents will present a far stiffer challenge than he is used to. Much like a previous England coach Andy Flower, Mott has been spotted furiously taking notes during matches which he hopes will come in useful off the field.
But rather than emulate the uptight Flower, Moeen reckons the new boss is actually a bit more like fellow Aussie Trevor Bayliss. “He is very relaxed and he’s good,” said Moeen.
“It doesn’t look like the losses have affected him in any way. He is a lot like Trevor but he has his own ways. The dressing room almost runs itself most of the time so the boys are good.
“We know it can happen the way we play. It is just one of those days when you draw a line under it. There is no need to panic or change. We just need to step up as senior players in the team.”
