Moeen Ali Announces Retirement From International Cricket Following Australia Series Exclusion

New Delhi: England star all-rounder Moeen Ali announced retirement from international cricket. His decision came just after his exclusion from England’s white ball squad for the upcoming series against Australia. He last represented England in T20 World Cup semi-final against India on June 27 in Guyana.

He realized it was the right moment to end his international career and allow the younger players to take the lead in England cricket.

“I’m 37 years old and didn’t get picked for this month’s Australia series,” Moeen said in a Daily Mail interview. “I’ve played a lot of cricket for England. It’s time for the next generation, which was also explained to me. It felt the time was right. I’ve done my part, Moeen added, who made his international debut for England in 2014.

Moeen Ali was a key player for England as he always contributed for the side in crunch situations across all the three formats. He appeared in 68 Tests, 138 ODIs and 92 T20Is for England. He amassed 6678 runs, smashed eight hundreds, 28 fifties and clinched 366 wickets across all the three formats.

“I’m very proud. When you first play for England, you don’t know how many games you’re going to play. So to play nearly 300â€æMy first few years were all about Test cricket. Once Morgs [Eoin Morgan] took over the one-day stuff, that was more fun. But Test cricket was the proper cricket.

“Even now, I’ve tried to be realistic. I could hold on and try to play for England again, but I know in reality I won’t. Even retiring, I don’t feel it’s because I’m not good enough — I still feel I can play. But I get how things are, and the team needs to evolve into another cycle. It’s about being real to myself.

“People forget the impact you make in games. It might only have been 20 or 30, but it was a crucial 20 or 30. For me, it was about making an impact. I know what I brought to the side, on and off the field. As long as I felt people enjoyed watching me play, whether or not I did well, I was happy with that.”

Moeen also added that he will keep on playing franchise cricket and might take up coaching in the twilight stages of his career. He is currently busy in CPL 2024 with defending champions Guyana Amazon Warriors.

“A bit of franchise cricket, because I still love playing. But coaching is something I want to do — I want to be one of the best. I can learn a lot from Baz [Brendon McCullum]. I hope people remember me as a free spirit. I played some nice shots and some bad shots, but hopefully people enjoyed watching me.”