In case you missed it, Moeen Ali called stumps on his Test career this week. The retirement of the third greatest spinner in English Test history barely rated 200 words on the Cricket Australia website.
Only Derek Underwood (297) and Graeme Swann (255) have taken more than Ali’s 195 Test wickets. Throw in more than 2900 hundred runs, a Test hat-trick, five Test centuries and this is a career to be proud of.
I don’t think he was well used at all by England. The selectors obviously knew they had a talent, especially with the bat, but wanted him to be all things to the team. As a consequence, he batted everywhere from 1 to 9, when I think he’d have been a terrific number 6 or 7.
Australia didn’t see the best of him, especially on the 2017 tour, when it was clear his bowling was being targeted. A serious loss of form with the bat didn’t help either.
I also suspect some the scars he gained from such a tough tour carried over to his performances in the 2019 Ashes and perhaps influenced his decision to give Test cricket away before another Australian tour.
All of this begs the question – what spin options are left for Joe Root?
This is one cupboard that’s distinctly bare. Dom Bess is back bowling for Yorkshire but is not exactly setting the world on fire. Jack Leach is also in the mix, though his numbers for Somerset are equally uninspiring.
Matt Parkinson is leading the way, at least in terms of his figures in County cricket, but is that enough to warrant a Test debut in an Ashes series in Australia?
I suspect Joe Root will be having to shoulder a fair bit of bowling if any of the Test pitches are conducive to spin.
Joe Root (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Turning to domestic cricket, I received a message from a mate who asked: what happens if four people cough in Brisbane? Answer: a Shield game is postponed and Tassie players fly home.
This was in no way trying to demean that decision, which was clearly made with the best intentions for player and (presumably) spectator health. It was simply expressing the frustration many of us feel at how the domestic season has started – or not started.
Granted, it’s early days, but I don’t see a Cricket Australia plan B for Shield matches. Plan A is obviously go with the schedule and if COVID looks like it’ll cause an issue, postpone games.
I’d have thought plan B was to play matches in locations well away from capital cities which are most likely to have COVID issues and potential lockdowns.
There’s no reason why Shield matches couldn’t be played in Darwin, Alice Springs, Townsville or Cairns. Locations like Adelaide or Perth are obvious choices if Cricket Australia wanted to go down a similar path to the opening of last year’s Shield summer, though the quarantine rules in Western Australia are going to be tough to manage.
By the way, Plan C at present seems to be having no schedule for upcoming games, certainly nothing on the Cricket Australia website.
Speaking of Shield cricket, Will Puckovski might have to wait his turn for a Test spot – again.
Will Pucovski batting for Australia during last summer’s series against India (Photo by Cameron Spencer – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
Right now, he’d have to be considered No.3 on the Test opening pecking order. Dave Warner is still a lock for one spot and Marcus Harris has made every post a winner in the off-season, scoring runs in both County and domestic ODI cricket.
In theory, Puckovski could bat in the middle order but he’d have stiff competition from Travis Head who, like Harris, has made a lot of hundreds since being dropped from the Test team.
Bear in mind, Head wasn’t left out through a drop in form but because he was getting starts and not going on with his innings, often due to poor decision making. He seems to have worked hard on that aspect of his game and deserves his spot back in the Test middle order.
Credit to whoever prepared that pitch at Karen Rolton Oval. I know it was batting friendly, given only 25 wickets were lost while nearly 1250 runs were scored, but it was a September wicket which gave batsmen a good chance to knock off the winter cobwebs and gave the bowlers a tough early season workout.
I’d hope as the Shield summer progresses, we see pitches which offer far more to the bowlers, so making runs becomes a real test of skill.
I also hope the Saffers persist with Lloyd Pope. His numbers from this game were Arthur Mailey-like – 37 overs, 7 for 215 at 5.81 runs per over. Yes, he’s expensive, but he’s still only 21 and gives the ball a genuine rip and has an outstanding wrong-‘un.
He’s far from the finished product, but if he can learn control by playing more games at first class level, I see no reason why he couldn’t develop into another Stewie MacGill.
Is time catching up with Dave Warner? In the first part of the IPL season this year, Warner was stripped of the captaincy and in the second stanza, was dropped by his franchise and they’ve now parted ways.
In fairness, Warner would be the first to admit he’s underperformed in the 2021 IPL. The question is, will that form carry over, first to the T20 World Cup, and even The Ashes?
The Ashes are a little over two months away and sadly, despite all the positive words from the Cricket Australia CEO, there is still mass confusion over the series even taking place.
Nick Hockley is certainly earning his salary, trying to swim through the minefield that is state and federal politics around issues like COVID quarantines, allowing partners and children to travel, venues and dates for Tests, alternative venues if those first options fall through, etc. And all the while, Channel Seven and other broadcasters are circling, waiting to see what eventuates.
I gather from the internet that the ECB should be announcing their Ashes squad on the 4th of October. This could contain as many as 30 players, with some suggestions players might be able to return home after playing only a few Tests in the series.
If 30 players are chosen, the question is whether Ben Stokes will tour and who will make up the numbers outside the current England Test squad.
Finally, the Australian women finally lost an ODI game to India, which stopped them at 26 straight victories in this format. That is an outstanding achievement for any sporting team, let alone a national side. Hopefully they can extract some revenge in the one-off Test starting on the 30th.
The Bush
Roar Guru
The problem for England in the last decade is that they've had several Ali players; bits and pieces players that dabble at both bat and ball. You had Ali, you've still got Woakes, you've got Curran, Broad started off his career quite handy with the bat and of course you've got Stokes who earlier in his career really wasn't that great with the bat. When you factor in the 'keeper, it gets really hard to fit all these players in the line up between 6 and 8. Perhaps Ali would have achieved more if they hadn't moved him around the batting line-up as you say, but maybe not. It's hard to take him seriously as an Australian fan, because we've taken him to pieces so often. It's a bit like trying to rate Anderson, it's hard to do when you have so many memories of him being smashed.
Sedz
Guest
As we debate on this Ali is doing a good for CSK this season. He didn't do so well under Kohli for RCB. It depends on captain as well, be it Sam Curran or M.Ali they're utilized well by Dhoni.
Sedz
Guest
Jadejas average is far better than Ali's. Jadeja batting average is 34 vs Ali's 28. Jadeja bowling average 24 vs Ali's 36. Ali's average in Australia, India, South Africa and UAE are over 45. I'd even say Ashwin averages 27 with the bat just one lesser than Ali. I think Ali had the game but he was let down by his captain which can dent any players confidence. Felt he could ve been another Jadeja for their team.
Ian
Roar Rookie
If Moeen had been picked as a number 6/7 and as a useful second spinner,he would have played 100+ Test matches,scored 5000+ runs and taken 300+ wickets without any problems whatsoever.The problem was that Moeen was such a nice, polite, gentle man that he would just go along with what his lesser's told him to do...much to his career's detriment. It is an absolute disgrace that the absolutely useless bunch of teabags ( I'm being polite ) that run English cricket were able to stuff his career up as much as they did. I sincerely hope that he plays white ball cricket around the world for the rest of his career and makes a fortune...Well played Sir!!!!!
Ian
Roar Rookie
Good post as usual Paul.For the first time this morning I fear the Ashes are in serious danger of not taking place.England have put off announcing their Ashes squad till next week now, when it's expected to announce a provisional 30 man squad. The QLD/TAS debacle ( thank you Ian Healy for evolving my vocabulary) hasn't gone unnoticed over here either.As we've all said many times, the problem isn't the initial quarantine period in the country,it's the prospect of power mad state premiers calling snap lock downs whenever they see fit,leaving players and their families on both sides stranded. I gather C7 are looking for any excuse to sue CA.If England eventually announce a touring party minus a fair majority of their senior players, I can only imagine C7 will be beating down CA's door asking for massive refunds similar to their attitudes to the Big Bash last year?
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
In the past some teams would have baulked at starting at Perth, but not at Optus. Main issue is pitch cracking/breaking up, for which England possibly just as well equipped.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
About half the length of career in years as the two best offies after Lyon. With about one-third of his wickets against weak batting line ups.
JGK
Roar Guru
unless the parameters were for all games to be played in overcast English conditions. In which case Terry Alderman would be in the Aust XI!
JGK
Roar Guru
Yes, I believe that that will be the case.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
No, but M Waugh vs Moeen as off-spinners - contrast and compare, for your next assignment.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Yes, makes perfect sense. Presumably wouldn't have to quarantine between 1 in Perth and 2 in Adelaide, nor between Adelaide and other states for 3 and 4.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
I reckon he would have cleaned up Vic though.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
I thought Moeen was going to be crowned better than Warne and Murali
Paul
Roar Guru
I reckon you're spot on, Matt. Moving Moeen up rather than down to 7 or 8 also meant they could include another bowler, but the net effect was a batting order full of guys who were averaging in the 30's. I also don't think he was helped by England's seleection policies. From 2014 when he debuted to now, they've played 6 other spinners
Paul
Roar Guru
I was waiting for a bite. :happy: Completely agree JGK, but this seems to be the terminology used these days. Jimmy Anderson has been described many times as the greatest England bowler of all time, but I reckon he'd be hard pressed to make a "best of" XI, unless the parameters were for all games to be played in overcast English conditions.
matth
Roar Guru
I think the emergence of Stokes and the indecision between Bairstow and Buttler hurt Moeen’s position in the team. Stokes is rightly the premier all rounder. When he moved up to 4 or 5 there should have been a spot for Moeen, but they kept having an each way bet on two keepers.
matth
Roar Guru
What the heck is this all about?! I didn’t find a single reference to Mark Waugh anywhere :laughing: :laughing:
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Would be interesting what Kohli and Sharma average against Lyon. I suspect he still looks pretty good (though getting out a lot of times to one player can happen if you play them a lot). With Moeen it shows Lyon’s strength against left-handers, which is where he really shines.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
You don’t add up strike rate for a match to tell you how many the opposition scores. You add up runs against (plus extras). Runs per wicket against bowlers I has been the same in the last decade as in most decades since the 1920s. Strike rates are higher but there is no evidence that is contributing to lower scores. So Ali’s average roughly comparable with those of the past - adding 20-30% for those before 1920. He rates 15-20th all time for England in my book.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Nice summation Paul. Postponement of the Tassie match in Queensland seems a gross overreaction given the low number of cases. I’m guessing the main reason might have been fear that Tasmania would impose quarantine on people returning from Qld if numbers grew while the match was on (Gutwein seems just as cautious as MacGowan and Palaszczuk). Think you are right about Pucovski not being a lock at this stage given his injury and problems with short ball. Has Harris scored a few hundreds in County cricket? Not sure if you were intentionally leading with your chin re Moeen as the third greatest English spinner, just to incite us history nerds? Anyway, you got me - greatest England spinners ahead of M Ali: Underwood, Laker, Verity, Swann, Briggs, Peel, Lock, Wardle, Rhodes, Blythe, Titmus, Illingworth, Robins, D Allen, Edmonds and Wyatt. So 17th for me. All of these guys except Swann! and Allen had longer careers than Ali, just not the same opportunities for selection, and most of them played a bigger proportion of their careers against and in places like Australia, South Africa and the Windies. Ali only had a good record away from home against weaker batting sides - SL, Bangla and Windies. Averaged 49 in each of India, UAE and SA (and 115 in Oz!).