Moeen Ali's shock Ashes recall exposes 'disrespectful' England truth
England have been absolutely savaged over the move before the first Ashes Test.
Former Australia spinner Steve O'Keefe predicts England's move to recall Moeen Ali will backfire so spectacularly the spinner will retreat back into retirement before the Ashes series is over. Even Moeen admitted he thought Ben Stokes was joking when the England skipper texted him to ask whether he'd be interested in coming out of Test retirement to take on the Aussies following an injury to frontline spinner Jack Leach.
The 35-year-old has not played red-ball cricket since his initial retirement in 2021 and has taken just 20 Ashes wickets at an unflattering average of 64.65. The all-rounder's stats with the bat don’t make for great reading, either, with a top score of 77 at an average of 25.
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O'Keefe, who played nine Tests for Australia and will part of Channel 9's Ashes coverage from Friday night (AEST), is baffled by Ali's selection and thinks it will end in disaster for the home side. "Moeen's a good spinner and player but I will make a bold prediction – I think we might get another retirement out of him before the series ends," O'Keefe told Yahoo Sport Australia.
Moeen Ali recall a 'huge gamble' for England
"I think it could really backfire hard on England if Australia pounce on a guy who for the last 18 months has only been bowling four overs (in T20 cricket). If Australia get on top, where to for Moeen Ali and England?
"I get a feeling if he doesn't go well, he might just do exactly the same thing and retire. "That's got to be a danger in their mind because he's done that before.
"I'm just trying to work out what's the point of bringing him back? "If you pull blokes out of the woodwork to play, it's a huge gamble."
England's 'disrespectful' act called out after Moeen recall
O'Keefe is also concerned at the message it sends England's young spinners. He said: "What's going on with the English cricket system that they're going back to retired cricketers to play in an Ashes series?
"It doesn’t say much when you've got 18 teams in the (County) system with spinners. If you were an up-and-coming spinner who's doing well, you'd be pretty pis*ed off that they've gone back to a bloke who’s retired.
"I think it's a little bit disrespectful. They’re saying 'hey, none of you guys are good enough, we're going back to a guy who's openly said he's finished'." "It's not a great message to be sending."
The first Ashes Test gets underway from Edgbaston at 7.30pm (AEST) Friday.
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