Moeen Ali. (Photo Source: Twitter)
England all-rounder Moeen Ali came out of Test retirement to join Ben Stokes and Co. for the Ashes. Moeen was drafted into the playing XI straightaway for the first Test at Edgbaston. The experienced campaigner was dismissed for 18 in the first innings. With the ball in hand, Moeen finished with 2/147 in Australia’s first innings.
The all-rounder had a blister on his finger as he tirelessly bowled 29 overs on Day 2. Former England captain Eoin Morgan pointed out that Ali bowled just 26 overs in two months in IPL 2023. Morgan said that bowling 29 overs in a day, having not bowled too much prior to the Test, resulted in Ali’s injury.
The ICC handed the 36-year-old a fine of 25% on his match fee for the first Ashes Test, after finding him guilty of a level 1 offence as per the Code of Conduct. The incident happened in the 89th over in Australia’s first innings, where Ali was seen applying a drying agent to his bowling hand while fielding at the boundary line.
“I think he (Moeen) has bowled 26 overs the whole of the IPL [Indian Premier League] for the two months that he was away and then he bowled 29 overs yesterday. Something was bound to crop up. You can see a big gash across his finger,” Morgan said while speaking to Sky Sports at the end of play on Day 3.
Morgan was happy with the fact that the fine was imposed before people from outside could react to the matter.
“Obviously a precedent has been set before with Jadeja fined before on similar circumstances. I like the fact that something has happened quickly and before opinions are being formed and there’s outside pressure.”
Ravindra Jadeja was fined for a similar offence during Australia’s Test match versus India in Nagpur, earlier this year. Ali admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Andy Pycroft.
Australia won’t miss out twice on that flat batting pitch: Eoin Morgan
Eoin Morgan gave his assessment of how things stand at the end of Day 3. The World Cup-winning captain feels Australia have the edge as he believes that the likes of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne won’t miss out in both innings on the batting-friendly Edgbaston pitch. Morgan also felt that England’s chances will hugely depend on Moeen Ali’s ability to bowl in the second innings.
“I feel the predictive models should be based around whether Moeen Ali is able to bowl in the final innings. I still feel it’s 60-40 to Australia irrespective of the conditions and the wickets that fell later,” Eoin Morgan said. “I don’t know how they (England) get through Australia’s top-middle order with top 10 ranked players. They won’t miss out twice on that flat batting pitch.”