After making comeback from retirement for Ashes 2023, Moeen Ali retires from tests again

Moeen Ali came out of retirement for the Ashes 2023 after an injury to Jack Leach.

The fifth and final game of the Ashes 2023 between England and Australia at the Oval ended with a fairytale ending for two excellent cricketers from England. It was the final game for pacer Stuart Broad, who announced his retirement at the end of the third day of the game. Meanwhile, veteran all-rounder Moeen Ali, who came out of retirement for the Ashes series, has also retired from test cricket…again.

England won the final game in the last session of Day 5 by 49 runs. It was Broad who provided them with the last breakthrough. In fact, he took the last two wickets to end his career on a high note. Moeen Ali also contributed with 3/76. With this win, England leveled the series at 2-2 after an unfortunate draw in the fourth test, and the trophy was shared between the two teams.

“To come back was a little bit daunting actually”- Moeen Ali on coming back from retirement for Ashes 2023

Notably, Jack Leach was the first-choice spinner for the hosts for the Ashes 2023. But the off-spinner was ruled out due to a lower-back stress fracture ahead of the start of the series, which led the English captain Ben Stokes to send Moeen Ali a SOS text, saying, “Ashes?” Notably, Moeen announced his test retirement in September 2021. At first, he thought that Stokes was joking but then decided to come out of retirement for the Ashes 2023.

After the win in the fifth test, Moeen opened up about his future plans in an interview with the BBC’s Test Match Special. He said that it was a big decision to come back from retirement because his numbers were not great against Australia in Tests. He added, “It was one of those things where, when Stokesy asked me, I thought, ‘Why not? I’m going to go into a brilliant side and I still believe I can do alright’.”

After suffering a split finger in the first test, he missed the second game as England opted for five-seamer attack. After recovering from injury, he made a notable impact in the remaining three games, dismissing Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith in the third game. Furthermore, he revealed his plans and said, “If Stokesy messages me again, I’m going to delete it. That’s me done. I really have enjoyed it, and it’s great to finish on it.” Moeen Ali scored 180 runs in four games and picked up nine wickets.

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