"If Stokesy messages, I'm going to delete it": Moeen Ali again calls retirement after 5th Ashes Test
Jul 31, 2023
London [UK], August 1 : English spinner Moeen Ali, who had returned to international cricket ahead of the Ashes 2023 series has confirmed that the fifth Ashes Test was his last Test match, as per ESPNcricinfo.
When Jack Leac, England's top spinner, was ruled out of the summer with a lower-back stress fracture in the days leading up to the series, Ben Stokes sent Moeen an SOS message that said, "Ashes?" Moeen first believed it to be a joke before deciding to return to Test cricket after initially leaving the game in September 2021.
Moeen who had reversed his Test retirement only for the Ashes assignment, said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo, "If Stokesy messages me again, I'm going to delete it. That's me done. I really have enjoyed it, and it's great to finish on it."
Game-changing spells by England's Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali denied Australia their first Ashes win in away from home since 2001 and Stuart Broad scripted a fairytale finish to his career by taking the final two wickets, defeating the visitors by 49 runs in the fifth and final Ashes Test at The Oval on Monday.
In the first Test at Edgbaston, where England lost, Moeen broke his spinning finger while bowling. Stokes decided to use an all-seam attack in the second Test at Lord's, and Moeen was not included in the side.
He was included in the Playing XI of the three Test matches, where he had a huge influence, removing Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne at Headingley before offering to bat third in the second innings.
Moeen featured in four Test matches of Ashes 2023, scoring 180 runs at 25.71 and taking nine wickets at 51.44. His career averages in both batting and bowling were 28.12 and 37.31, respectively, and in the Manchester Test, he became the 16th person to have both 3,000 Test runs and 200 wickets in Test cricket.
