Moeen Ali won’t tie up an end

1. Moen is an interesting spinner. He is not a big spinner, Normally such kind of bowlers attack the leg-stump as you say, but Moen is very consistent in attacking the off-stump instead.

   Classical line of attack without the classical spin

2. But the argument that he is not a specialist spinner is so easy to say. That’s why all the commentators keep saying it. It would be far too complex for them to explore the issue as well as you have done here.

   Either that, or they’re wrong. One of the two.

3. Moeen in his first 4 2/3 tests, against what are supposedly the world’s two best batting lineups versus spin, has 14 wickets at 38.9. I’ll take that! He’s not spinning the ball a lot, but he’s spinning it more than India’s lead spinner.

   I think he ought to keep doing what he is doing, and if he’s got to work on anything, it’s strictly batting-related: not crapping himself against the short ball.

   1. India haven’t picked their lead spinner yet.

4. Well done KC on not sounding like certain sections of the media who today are saying: “Can everyone stop calling Moeen a part-time spinner? I know him personally and he’s a proper bowler. Look, he’s taking wickets. I knew he would do that, because I know him personally.”

   It’s the Nick Knight disease. One of many Nick Knight diseases. The other evening he interviewed Adil Rashid, both of them sitting awkwardly, legs-splayed, on the Old Trafford outfield. Later, Charles Colvile raised the issue of Rahid’s England prospects. Knight said something like: “Yeah, I asked him that when I interviewed him. Can’t remember his answer.”

5. My own cynical view is Moeen is successful as a bowler for exactly the same reasons Hayden was successful as a batsman.

   1. Because he’s a hulking bear of a man with forearms like tree trunks and a bully-boy attitude?

   2. Because he talks utter drivel?

      Please explain yourself, Deep Cower.

   3. haydos certainly is known to practise executing his considerable skillsets in verbal jargonisation, business-based drivelishness and filibusterificationitude, wherever and whenever possible

      (is anyone so detested in world cricket? he is the ty cobb of whites)

6. Future exhibition matches: Bert’s Indifferents vs. Kallis’ Indifferents vs. MCC (feat. Tony Iommi disguised as Sachin Tendulkar in a way which everybody finds unconvincing. 100 riffs?!).

7. New spinners take wickets.

8. Funny how when England start treating him like a proper spinner, he starts bowling like one.

   I’m not sure he is going to be the saviour of spin bowling, but his batting makes him the best of the bunch. Apart from Swann and extremely sporadically Tufnell and Panesar (who would both have the odd amazing Test or two followed by a few Tests of utter toilet), thats what England have had to make do with for about 35 years. Emburey, Edmonds, Croft, Giles – they were hardly running through teams on a regular basis, and I fancy Moeen is a better bat than all of them.

   Mind you, because of that England need to ignore batting prowess and pick the best 4 seamers available at all times. I’m not sure one way or the other whether they are at the moment, Jordan feels a bit of a “he does everything quite well” pick but I don’t really know if there is anyone significantly better at bowling than him right now. He may be younger and therefore have a “higher ceiling” (copyright ECB), but I’m not convinced he is an upgrade on Bresnan.

   Woakes-Broad-Plunkett-Anderson feels like the best combination at the moment, with hopefully Finn breathing down their neck soon. Stokes should be targetting a top 6 slot more than a bottom 4 one I think.

   1. Jordan does seem to get a lot of wickets in county cricket. Suspect we haven’t really seen the best of him in Tests.

   2. Or maybe the batsmen in county cricket aren’t as good as they are in Tests

   3. Well that’s clearly true, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t still one of the best bowlers available. No-one’s been significantly outdoing him over the last year or so.

   4. Nice to see you having a little tet-a-tet over this with legsidelizzy on Twitter. Genuinely the touchiest person on social network.

   5. She might just be unfamiliar with puns as bad as the one we made. We’re just upset that anyone might think we are somehow against Moeen Ali.

9. I have really warmed to Moeen as a player. But it’s his batting that I find most compelling. He’s just so elegant and appears to have so much time. He should retain his place in the top six regardless of his bowling. The middle order of Ballance, Bell, Root, Ali has enough threat and stability to last some time, and in fact gives me some cause for optimism.

   1. Yes. But MA needs to stop taking his eye off the short ball.

   2. yeah we actually have a batting spinner now don’t we? i thought the whole point about swann’s being two bowlers in one was precisely the fact that it’s exceptional in his case and thus cannot just be replaced

      problem against the short ball can surely be cured by facing enough of the buggers..?

   3. People do seem to acknowledge that they’re unlikely to find someone to do both jobs. We were highlighting the assumption that ‘keeping it tight’ would be the first and easier role to fill.

   4. I am suddenly very glad that I gave him the all-rounder slot in my team, runs be damned.

10. What you have in Moeen Ali already is the equivalent of what NZ got out if Vettori by the end of his career. If his bowling picks up you have a guy at least as good as Shakib. Combine him with Ben Stokes and your team selection gets interesting.

    1. You mean breed them?

    2. Moe Stokes does have a ring to it.

    3. Beneen Stokeli.

    4. Broad could feasibly be at 11 for the next game.

    5. King Cricket once said Shakib was the best one-day all-rounder in the world.

    6. He’s currently ranked second best.

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