Ashes Series | Moeen Ali withdraws from Test cricket to play in Ashes

London: England all-rounder Moeen Ali has retired from Test cricket and will not be available for the five-Test Ashes series against Australia starting June 16 at Edgbaston. series). This 35-year-old player had announced his retirement from Test cricket after the tour of India in 2021. But England captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum asked him to reconsider his decision. Moeen Ali has been included in the squad in place of injured spinner Jack Leach. Left-arm spinner Leach was ruled out of the Ashes due to back pain. Rob Key, England’s managing director of men’s cricket, said in a statement released on Wednesday, “We approached Moeen Ali earlier this week to withdraw his retirement from Test cricket.” Moeen is excited to join the team and play Test cricket again. Also read Moeen Ali, who was part of IPL 2023 champions Chennai Super Kings, played his last match as a first-class cricketer against India in September 2021 at The Oval. He made his Test debut in 2014 against Sri Lanka at Lord’s. Moin has so far scored 2914 runs in 64 Tests at an average of 28.29, including five centuries and 14 half-centuries. Apart from this, he has 195 wickets in his name. England squad for the Ashes: Ben Stokes (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Jack Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Jo Root, Josh Tong, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood. (Agency)