All-rounder Moeen Ali has revealed his conversation with England’s skipper Ben Stokes, where the latter asked him to play at The Ashes 2023.
“Stokes sent me a message saying ‘Ashes?’ I responded with ‘LOL,” Moeen revealed in a press conference on Tuesday.
The Englishman is now all set to mark his return to the longest format as Jack Leach was previously ruled out with a back injury.
A one-word message from Stokes was all it took to bring the all-rounder Moeen back into England’s red-ball set-up as the 35-year-old stated that only Stokes could have persuaded him to come out of Test retirement.
Moeen further said he was not aware of the news about Leach and thought Stokes was joking.
“Then the news came through and I had a chat with him,” he said. “That was it. It’s the Ashes. To be part of it would be amazing,” he said.
“We reached out to ‘Mo’ early this week about returning to test cricket. Having had a couple of days to reflect, Mo is excited to join the squad and play test cricket again,” ECB men’s managing director Rob Key said.
“His vast experience, along with his all-round ability, will benefit our Ashes campaign.”
Moeen, who made his Test debut in 2014, played his last Test against India at the Oval in September 2021 and is now excited to mark his return in the Ashes.
“There are no question marks over any shots you play, which gives me licence to play a few more rash shots, I guess.
“Even with the ball, he is more on the aggressive side. I know I go for runs but Stokesy also knows there are some wicket-taking deliveries in between. That’s all he cares about,” he said.
It must be noted that the all-rounder has scored 2,914 runs in 64 Tests at an average of 28.29, and picked up 195 wickets with his off-spin.
The upcoming Ashes is the most anticipated one as England have won 11 of 13 Tests in the past 12 months under the captaincy of Ben Stokes playing with their “Bazball” brand while Australia have just won the World Test Championship defeating India by 209 at the Oval in London.