England
England’s Moeen Ali has vowed to make the most of whatever time he has left in international cricket, including pushing for a return to the Test arena.
Moeen has just arrived in Cape Town for England’s limited-overs tour of South Africa, their first overseas engagement since the pandemic disrupted the global calendar, and has travelled with a clear mission to begin a new chapter.
The 33-year-old has not played Test cricket since losing his place to Jack Leach in the 2019 Ashes, subsequently losing his red-ball contract and admits he has struggled for both motivation and form ever since.
But rather than shrink from the challenge, he intends to go all out to do as much as he can between now and the end of his career.
“I know I haven’t got that long left in international cricket, obviously depending on fitness and form, but I’ll try my best to do as much as I can to get to the level I want to get,” he said in a candid appearance ahead of training at Newlands.
“It’s frustrating for myself and it’s more of a mental thing. That hunger has not been there in the last year or so, there’s been glimpses but I know deep down I haven’t done well over a period of time.
“It’s my job now to go out and perform. I need to get into a good mental space, which I have been working on for the last four or five months. It’s been difficult but it’s about clearing everything out and starting afresh.—AP
