Moeen Ali retires from England – selflessness was his greatest asset

Moeen Ali has confirmed his international retirement at the age of 37, bringing an end to a career in which he won 298 international caps across formats, including 68 in Tests.

The retirement is little surprise. Having already retired from Test cricket, Moeen was dropped for this month’s T20 series against Australia, with England attempting to build a new white-ball team in the run-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup and the 2027 ODI World Cup. But it confirms the end of a distinguished international career.

“I will miss walking out with the shirt on and the crowd right behind you,” Moeen said on Sky Sports. “I will miss the changing room with the boys. That made me happy. I did my part, I did my job, but it is time for the next guys. I am very comfortable with it.”

Former colleague Stuart Broad said. “He is one of my favourite-ever team-mates. I first shared a dressing room with him for an Under-17s XI against Bangladesh Under-19s and got on great there.

“He just has a wonderful nature about him. He is someone who can just make the whole changing room feel relaxed, he has got a great humour to him. He cared deeply about playing for England and winning games of cricket.”

Moeen will continue playing in franchise cricket around the world, where his combination of left-handed power-hitting and off-spin makes him a highly coveted player. He eventually hopes to become a coach.

“I could hold on and try to play for England again, but I know in reality I won’t,” Moeen told the Daily Mail. “It felt the time was right. I’ve done my part.”

Moeen was among only six players to feature in both the 2019 ODI World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup wins. In the T20 World Cup victory, sealed against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Moeen was vice-captain.

Together with his vital role in England’s white-ball sides, Moeen also featured in 68 Test matches, including playing all five games when England regained the Ashes in 2015. After Jack Leach’s injury, Moeen made a dramatic return for last summer’s Ashes, which were drawn 2-2.

Selflessness was Moeen Ali’s greatest asset – and his biggest curse

Selflessness was Moeen Ali’s greatest asset as an international cricketer. This made him one of England’s most-loved modern cricketers. Yet when it came to amassing statistics that showcased his talents, this selflessness was his biggest curse.

His last Test series, in the 2023 Ashes, encapsulated his career. Initially picked as a bowling all-rounder at No 8, Moeen volunteered to bat at No 3 midway through the third Test, to allow Harry Brook to shuffle down to his favoured role at No 5. Once again, Moeen had sacrificed his personal needs for the good of the side.

Opening, No3, No4, No5, No6, No7, No8 and even No9: Moeen batted in them all over his Test career. While at his best as a free-scoring middle-order batsman, he embraced standing in as opener against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in 2015. He batted at No8 in 22 Test matches, a berth which many considered was too low to maximise his batting talent.

In an age when private schools function as hyper-professionalised academies, Moeen’s career was a triumph for his individual talent, emerging from inner-city Birmingham. He embraced his status as a Muslim role model, and did far more to inspire a new generation of cricketers than scores of English administrators.

Before winning Test selection, Moeen was primarily a batsman in county cricket. Five Test centuries – two apiece against India and Sri Lanka and one against Pakistan – and a final Test average of 28.12 were not a proper reflection of his capabilities. Yet, while his batting talent was such that Moeen will feel he should have averaged in the mid-30s, his 204 Test wickets, at an average of 37.31, reflected how he developed his off-spin for England’s needs. Only two spinners – Derek Underwood and Graeme Swann – have taken more Test wickets for England.

It was not in Moeen’s nature to be a containing bowler. But his drift, turn and bounce could combine to produce deliveries that could flummox the world’s best: Virat Kohli, who Moeen dismissed six times in Tests, could attest to as much.

Moeen was player of the match six times in Test cricket, reflecting his relish for delivering match-winning performances in the fourth innings of games. It is a burden that many spinners have not enjoyed. Yet Moeen took 63 wickets at just 23.2 in the fourth innings of Tests – including a hat-trick against South Africa at The Oval in 2017, and bowling England to victories over India at Southampton in both 2014 and 2018.

The Ashes seldom witnessed Moeen at his very best; he ended up with a batting average of 25.2 and bowling average of 60.6 against Australia. He still ended his Test career with a crucial role in victory over Australia, taking three for 76 in the final game of last year’s Ashes at The Oval. It was a snapshot, perhaps, of how he might have thrived had the Bazball regime come earlier in his career.