NEWS
Follow UsMoeen Ali retired from Test cricket at the end of the 2021 summer, and time and again, he reiterated his stance of not returning to the longest format of the game. However, when Jack Leach suffered a finger injury that made him unavailable for the English summer of 2023, England Test skipper Ben Stokes dialed in Moeen and managed to convince him to come out of retirement.
On the second day of the Test, however, he suffered a cut on his finger due to friction of the seam when bowling with the new ball. When he was brought back to bowl with the second new ball, things didn’t seem as good, as he was constantly in pain.
With Leach out of the equation, England can look at the likes of Rehan Ahmed, Liam Dawson, and Will Jacks as the front-runners to be a back-up to Moeen Ali. Speaking about it, Ben Stokes said they have plenty of time to assess the situation, with the second Test being scheduled to start on June 28, while adding that they have confidence in Moeen pulling off match-winning performances.
"Seven days is actually quite a long time to give everyone a good rest," Ben Stokes said. "We'll meet up again in three or four days' time I think, and we'll assess how everyone's going and we'll have to make a decision from there."
"I told Mo to tell me if his finger was sore, and I'd sensed that it was even before that," Stokes said. "For him to come back into his first Test match and operate in the way that he did and really put himself through the pain barrier for the team.
"You could see what it meant to him going out to play for England again with a huge smile on his face. I selected him for his match-winning moments. He had a few of them with the ball and nearly got us over the line... [The break] gives Mo a good chance for his finger to heal up."
After staying away from bowling in the Indian Premier League, Stokes made a return with the ball at Edgbaston, bowling seven overs each in both innings. Even he dismissed player of the match Usman Khawaja but hardly celebrated the dismissal despite that being a very important wicket for England at that point in time. Stokes stated that he was very happy for the way his body held up while bowling.
“I was absolutely flying on caffeine. I've put my body through more than it's actually been through over the last year, which is obviously great signs for myself and another confidence boost for me," Stokes said. "Getting through that, knowing we've still got four games coming up has given me a massive boost.
"I can't remember the last time I've sort of been able to continually bowl. I was just really happy that I was able to get a good long spell in, and I just love being in that situation. I love bowling long spells, especially when the game's on the line,” the English skipper added.
