Moeen Ali: Would love to open for England again

Moeen Ali: Would love to open for England again

Nov 22, 2014

Moeen Ali expressed his desire to open the innings for England again, after his explosive knock of 56 runs from 37 balls helped his side win the tour match against Sri Lanka ‘A’ by 56 runs (Duckworth/Lewis Method).

Ali was chosen to accompany skipper Alastair Cook at the start of the English innings, replacing Alex Hales for the same. Ali went on to bring up his half-century in just 21 balls. The all-rounder had earlier taken three wickets for 29 runs to reduce the opposition to a total of 198 for the loss of six wickets.

“I was very excited to get the role because it’s a role I feel very comfortable in and think I can do a good job. For Worcestershire, I’ve batted there for the last four or five years. If everything goes all right, I’d love to open all the way through [to the World Cup].

“I’d love to open for the rest of my life for England. But whatever the team needs, I’ll do it. I don’t look at it as a permanent job (yet). I just look at it as an opportunity,” Ali was quoted as saying on the official website of the Worcestershire County Cricket Club, which is the county side that Ali currently represents.

England have another warmup game lined up against Sri Lanka ‘A’ at Colombo on Thursday before the seven-match ODI series between Sri Lanka and England begins.