England has made the surprising decision to add Moeen Ali to their squad for the first two Ashes Tests at Edgbaston and Lord’s, marking the 35-year-old all-rounder’s return from Test retirement. Moeen had previously announced the end of his England Test cricket career at the conclusion of the 2021 season. However, after discussions with captain Ben Stokes, head coach Brendon McCullum, and Managing Director of England Men’s Cricket Rob Key, he has been convinced to make a comeback.
The choice to reinstate Moeen comes following the unfortunate hamstring injury to their first-choice spinner, Jack Leach, who was ruled out of the highly anticipated five-match series earlier this week. Moeen is expected to feature prominently in his hometown of Birmingham, as Edgbaston is set to host the first Test of the Ashes series starting from June 16.
“We approached Mo (Moeen Ali) earlier this week regarding his return to Test cricket,” stated Rob Key in a statement released on the ECB website. “After taking a couple of days to consider, Mo is enthusiastic about rejoining the squad and playing Test cricket again. His extensive experience and all-round skills will be invaluable to our Ashes campaign. We wish Mo and the rest of the squad the best for the upcoming Ashes series.”
The England squad will gather in Birmingham on June 12 to begin their preparations for the Ashes opener, which will commence the following day.
Revised England Squad for the first two Ashes Tests: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Moeen Ali