Munir Ali, Moeen Ali’s father, claimed the England all-rounder did not ‘fancy carrying drinks’ at the Ashes against Australia and hence felt it was the right time to call it a day. Moeen’s decision to retire from Test cricket weeks after being recalled to the Test side for the India series, surprised many including his father.
“I have to admit that I never saw that coming,” Munir told inews.co.uk . “I would love him to have played in that final Test [against India] and got five more wickets and 86 more runs to be one of only 15 players to have achieved 3000 runs and 200 Test wickets,” he said.
Moeen’s father then went on to add that the ‘main reason’ for his son’s retirement was the uncertainty of making it to the XI in the Ashes.
“But the main reason for retiring is that Australian tour and being in a bubble, after being in a bubble all last year. At his age, I don’t think he fancied carrying the drinks,” he added.
Moeen said he could not concentrate during the three Tests he played against India and therefore decided not continue with red-ball cricket and instead concentrate more on being a white-ball specialist.
“It’s been a good journey but during the India series I felt like I was done, to be honest. I felt good, the atmosphere felt good, the dressing room, etc, but cricketing-wise, I found it a struggle to get in the zone bowling and batting and in the field. And the more I tried, I just couldn’t do it.
“I was thinking about the Ashes (this winter) and how I would love to have gone back and done well there.
“But it’s such a long trip if I’m not ‘in it’ and I think it’d be very, very difficult. And if I felt like I did against India when I was out there, then I would probably retire after one match. So it’s done,” the off-spinning all-rounder who has represented England in 64 Tests scoring 2914 runs and picking up 195 wickets, said.
‘There won’t be another Moeen Ali in 10-15 years’: Moeen’s father Munir
Moeen’s father said the all-rounder has shown nothing can stop you at the highest level if you have the talent.
“I don’t think there will be another Moeen Ali in 10 to 15 years,” Munir said. “But what he has showed is that you don’t have to be from a big school. He’s a Sparkhill boy and he has shown that if you work hard, there’s an opportunity for you.
“He showed the Asian community that if there’s a will there’s a way. There’s nothing stopping you providing you work hard and you have the talent,” he added.
“When he first started, I thought he was going to play a few games here and a few games there,” says Munir. “I honestly didn’t think he would end up playing international cricket for eight years.
“I’m surprised but I’m not surprised because he was always very talented. I always knew that he had the talent. I think if he had been given that number five or number six role in the England Test line-up then he would have had even more success,” Munir Ali said.
