England all-rounder Moeen Ali bullish over delivering doosra

Moeen Ali, the new England spin threat

England all-rounder Moeen Ali, who could make his Test debut against Sri Lanka tomorrow (June 12), has said that he has worked hard on perfecting the doosra and, assisted by Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal, has been delivering it consistently in the domestic circuit.

"I worked really hard with it over the last month or so. I bowled about eight in the last championship game, and in Twenty20s I've been bowling five or six each game. So far every one's landed," said the 26-year-old off-spinner, who is highly rated for his batting abilities.

Playing for Worcestershire, Ali said he has spent valuable time in the practice sessions with Ajmal, the club’s overseas player, that enabled him to learn a thing or two about the mystery delivery.

On Ajmal’s role in developing the variation that is also referred to as the ‘wrong one’, as it moves away from a right-hander in contrast to the conventional off-spin delivery, he said: "He's pushed me, given me a lot of confidence - it does take a bit of time, because you bowl a lot of full-tosses in practice. It's embarrassing at times. But he said he did exactly the same thing, so that gave me confidence to just keep trying to do it," said Ali.

With many off-spinners being reported for suspect actions while attempting the wrong ones, Ali clarified that his delivery has not been under any scrutiny in the domestic circuit.

"The umpires in the championship games and the Twenty20s said they don't see any difference. Speaking to a lot of people, they say it's pretty sound, and I'll definitely be able to bowl it," said Ali.

Ali, though, hasn’t grabbed a wicket with his doosra, yet. "Saeed says once you get one or two wickets with it, you start bowling it a lot more. I'm not sure I'm 'mystery' yet, but I hope in time I can become a mystery bowler.”

Ali, with 5620 runs at an average of 38.72 in 114 First-class matches. is primarily a batsman, but he is now facing a tough task of filling Graeme Swann’s shoes .

‘I’m not here to try to replace him. I’m here to do exactly what I’ve been doing at Worcester. I’m a batsman who bowls, at the moment, but I’m more than a part-time bowler and I have the potential to be a top spinner,” Ali said about replacing retired offie Swann in the side as the lead spinner.