Moeen Ali exclusive: My fears for Joe Root – and what I really think of Alastair Cook

Moeen Ali was one of the many England players not to enjoy the Ashes series. After his Test retirement last summer, he was summoned by BT Sport to work through the night as a pundit while England were being thrashed 10,000 miles away.

“It’s just probably not my cup of tea at the moment,” Moeen reflects. “It was all right - a good experience I guess. That's probably enough for the moment. It was good to watch the games. The hours were tough, that was the toughest bit.

“You have to talk about your team-mates or your ex-team-mates. Obviously, we didn't play well so it makes it a little bit harder.” Moeen also didn’t enjoy the reaction to his comments about Alastair Cook’s lack of involvement with the players during his captaincy.

“It was massively taken out of context,” Moeen says. “I was just saying the differences between him and Rooty really. It doesn't mean Rooty is the right way or the wrong way or Cookie is the right or wrong way. We get on really well.”

Moeen’s experience of the brutality of Ashes cricket - he played an important role in the 2015 Ashes win, but struggled in 2017/18, when England lost 4-0, and was then dropped one Test into the 2019 series - gave him a natural empathy with his former team-mates’ struggles.

“I've been in that situation myself. It's really, really tough - Australia are a very, very good side, especially at home. And we just didn't play well, but the guys know that.”

England’s challenge was heightened by biosecure conditions. Moeen knows about the struggles of bubble life better than most; he had to isolate in Sri Lanka last year after contracting Covid-19. After 18 months he is adamant that, for the well-being of the players, restrictions have to be relaxed.

“One hundred per cent - especially for guys who have all been double-vaxxed and boosted,” Moeen says. “I'm surprised before tournaments captains and staff don't speak out as much because I think if the teams and captains got together and spoke a bit more about it things would change. They have to change because it's not sustainable. I don't know how long people can carry on playing like this.

“It's very difficult. Before, when you weren't playing well on tour you had time to get away and relax. But it's very difficult to do that now because of the bubble.”

Since the pandemic, England have played more international cricket than any other nation, exacerbating the strain facing players. “It is mentally draining a lot of the time,” Moeen reflects. “We've been on the road probably more than anyone.”

Reducing the amount of time in bubbles was a factor in Moeen’s Test retirement just before the Ashes tour. “It definitely played a part. Obviously you don't know what the future holds but it's difficult to keep going away and being stuck in the hotel and then trying to perform.”

If bubble life is not relaxed, Moeen believes “you’ll probably get more players just playing one format”.

“It’s a shame because you need guys like Bairstow and Stokes to be playing all formats,” he says. “They’re big misses for the Test side and the white-ball side. You don’t want to get to a point where they have to pick and choose.”

The strain playing Test cricket during the pandemic, Moeen says, is greater than any other format, such are the length of tours. As such, he is worried about the burden being placed on England’s Test captain, Joe Root, who has played in all 17 of the side’s Test matches since the start of 2021.

“It’s completely different to white-ball stress. It's not easy. That's where Rooty is great - to perform as an individual and captain with bubbles and all that stuff is very, very difficult. But you want to be careful. You don't want to get to a point where Rooty is exhausted and can't carry on doing it.”

Moeen does not share the desire to find easy scapegoats for the Ashes defeat, supporting Root to remain in his post and deriding the notion that the Hundred is to blame. Instead, he focuses on the quality of County Championship cricket - above all the pitches.

“Championship cricket was, in my opinion, going that way anyway because the wickets are poor which then makes the style of cricket not up to international standard. Blaming the Hundred, I don’t think it’s right.

“It is annoying because the Hundred was great - I really enjoyed it. And it felt like we got a new sort of crowd last year which was amazing.

“Other countries have players who scored hundreds in Test and one-day cricket - they seem to manage all right, Indian batters, New Zealand batters, they do really well. So yeah, it's just more getting the pitches better, I guess. Playing in conditions that will be a bit more like Test cricket.”

Despite his Test retirement, Moeen reveals that he still intends to continue playing for Worcestershire in the Championship. But his start to the 2022 English summer will be delayed: after England’s T20 series in the Caribbean, Moeen will play in the Bangladesh Premier League before returning to the Indian Premier League with Chennai Super Kings.

Last October, Moeen became the first ever Englishman to win an IPL final. “It's one of my proudest moments - obviously the Ashes and World Cup, but that was right up there.”

At Chennai, Moeen played under MS Dhoni, whose style reminds him of England captain Eoin Morgan. “Him and Morgs are by far the two best captains I've played under. As you can see on TV they're so calm and collected. MS is always thinking outside the box.”

Morgan appeared to learn from Dhoni about how to use Moeen in T20 cricket. Last winter, Moeen went 10 straight matches, including a five-game T20 series in India, without making England's T20 XI. But after the IPL, England followed Chennai in deploying Moeen as a floating middle-order hitter to attack spin. It is a role that takes advantage of Moeen’s unique gifts. In T20 history only one batsman - Shahid Afridi - scores at a faster strike rate than Moeen’s 162 against spin.

“Chennai used me really well and I'm really grateful for that,” he reflects. “I enjoy that kind of responsibility - it makes me feel quite important to the team. And then as you saw in the World Cup, Morgs did the same thing and I really enjoyed it.”

England will hope that Moeen continues to do so for some time to come in the limited-overs formats. Aged 34, Moeen should have several years left at the top of the white-ball game. He is targeting the two World Cups in the next two years - this year’s T20 World Cup in Australia, and next year’s ODI World Cup in India, after which he may retire from the international game.

“If I’m well and fit I’d love to be involved in those - and then probably think about my career after that. Those are my next two targets for sure - the next World Cup, the next 50-over World Cup. Then we’ll take it from there.”

Eventually, rather than the commentary box, Moeen hopes that his post-playing career keeps him involved as a coach. “I'd love to stay in the game. I think I'd enjoy the coaching side of things and trying to be part of a franchise coaching team. It's a good few years away but I think that'd be my thing.”

And yet these future aspirations can wait. After 64 Test matches, Moeen is relishing the next phase of his playing career as one of the most sought-after T20 players in the world, who can now spend a little more time with his young family.

“I don't look too far ahead. There's no personal targets in terms of runs and wickets. I just want to perform and win trophies - be part of good teams, make contributions, play my best,” Moeen reflects. “I’m really content with how things are.”