Moeen Ali admitted he thought Ben Stokes was taking the mickey when he first messaged him about coming out of retirement for the Ashes.
The England all rounder had spent two months with the Test captain in India at the IPL and the pair had joked about the Ashes in conversation, so when Stokes sent the message: “Ashes?” The reply was simply ‘LOL.’
But just three days out from the first Test at Edgbaston, the Birmingham born and bred off spinner is back in his England Test training gear and getting ready for one last tilt at Ashes glory with rejuvenated enthusiasm.
“Leachy got injured, which was sad for him,” said Moeen. “Stokesy messaged me with a question mark....’Ashes?’ I hadn’t heard the news about Leachy at the time so I just said ‘LOL’, thinking he’s taking the mick. The news then came through and I had a chat with him. That was it.
“I’ve obviously spent a lot of time with Stokesy in India during the IPL. He didn’t mention anything about coming out of retirement, it was just about the Ashes and how he was looking to take the team. He obviously watched me train out there and thinks I can bowl decently.”
Not only do Stokes and Brendon McCullum think he can bowl decently but they know he is the sort of character with the skills that could flourish in the environment they have created. They are only interested in what he can do, which is bowl wicket-taking balls and smash the ball a long way, rather than what he can’t, which is to bowl tight and bat for time.
And it is that kind of positivity from Stokes, plus the fact that it is the Ashes, that made it an easy decision for the 35-year-old to put his holiday plans on hold and come out of retirement, despite his wife’s concerns.
“I did have some family holidays booked,” he added. “But the fact that it’s the Ashes and it’s such a big series and the exciting cricket the guys have been playing. I probably wouldn't have done it for another captain.
“My wife wasn’t that keen, but everyone else around me was. I spoke to Stokesy about how he talked to batters and he just said ‘it would be perfect for you and the way you play’. There’s no question marks over any shots you play, that gives me licence to play a few more rash shots I guess.
“Even with the ball he’s more on the aggressive side, I know I’d go for runs but he knows there’s also some wicket taking deliveries in between, which is all he cares about really. It's a kind of era I’d have loved when I was playing regular Test cricket. I’ve never been able to hold an end up. When I have it’s because I’ve been taking wickets. Ben and Baz know what they are going to get from me – there won’t be a lot of maidens.”
The cricket will be attacking though and that is exactly what Stokes is looking for and any spinner with 195 Test wickets to their name is a very capable bowler.
Moeen might have had a tough time of it in Australia in 2017/18 when his spinning finger was damaged, but if they come hard at him again as he expects they will, he wants to try another option.
“They will 100 percent go after me,” he said. “If I was them I’d do the same. Any spinner that came in would have been attacked. I’m not expecting them to defend me and things like that. I’m expecting them to come after me, which could be dangerous because Stokesy likes having the fielders up. It could go for a lot of runs.
“I think I’m a bit smarter with my bowling now. When I played previously I just bowled and didn’t think too much about it. I know I’ve been out of the game, but I have thought if I played Australia again I would do this differently, or this differently. I’m going to try to do those things.”
