England allrounder Moeen Ali
London: England allrounder Moeen Ali has announced his retirement from international cricket, continuing the changing of the guard in the English game that has also seen fast-bowling greats Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson quit the sport over the past year.
The 37-year-old Ali, who was overlooked for the upcoming white-ball series against Australia, said in an interview with British newspaper the Daily Mail that it was “time for the next generation.”
“It felt the time was right. I’ve done my part,” said Ali, who played 68 tests, 138 one-day internationals and 92 Twenty20 internationals for England — winning the World Cup in both of the shorter forms.
Ali, who was a role model for British Muslims, said he still feels like he can compete at the highest level, but was “trying to be realistic” about his international future.
“I could hold on and try to play for England again, but I know in reality I won’t,” Ali told the Mail.
Matthew Mott was fired as head coach of England’s limited-overs teams last month after disappointing title defenses in the ODI and T20 World Cups and the appetite for change continued with the removal from the squad of Ali and Jonny Bairstow — two senior players sharing over 400 caps.
Broad retired from cricket after last year’s Ashes and Anderson followed suit in July during the test series against the West Indies.
The likes of spinner Shoaib Bashir and 20-year-old fast-bowler Josh Hull have been brought into the fold to help usher in a new era for English cricket across all formats.
Ali had been an influential vice-captain to Jos Buttler in the white-ball teams in recent years and was brought out of test retirement for the 2023 Ashes as a favor to captain Ben Stokes with England in need of a spinner.
Throughout it all, Ali was an extremely popular member of the England dressing room — with his cover drive his most memorable shot.
“I was a free-spirit kind of player and played on instinct a lot of the time,” he told Sky Sports.
Ali is one of only five men to take 200 wickets and score 3,000 runs in tests for England, the others being Stokes, Ian Botham, Andrew Flintoff and Broad. He brought up both landmarks in successive tests in the 2023 Ashes series.
Ali said he was “especially” proud of taking 204 test wickets as well as getting five test centuries and a hat trick against South Africa.
“He would do anything the team required, probably to the hindrance of his career — he batted from No. 1 to No. 8,” former England captain Alastair Cook said. “He was one of the great teammates.”
Broad described Ali as “one of my favorite ever teammates”, adding on Sky Sports: “He was someone who could make the whole changing room feel relaxed.”
Ali said he wants to continue playing franchise cricket but ultimately hopes to move into coaching.
“Coaching is something I want to do — I want to be one of the best,” he said. “I can learn a lot from (England coach Brendon McCullum).”
England hosts Australia in an eight-game white-ball tour, beginning on Wednesday with a T20 in Southampton.
