Moeen Ali expresses frustration at changing role in England team

England’s Moeen Ali is arguably the perfect definition of an all-rounder in cricket, a player who is equally capable with both the bat and ball. His ability to excel with both the bat and ball also is his biggest downfall as he is caught between being a batting all-rounder and a bowling all-rounder.

There are very few players in the history of the game who have done both equally well, most notably South Africa’s Jacques Kallis. You normally find one dominant skill, batting or bowling, and another skill to compliment the primary skill, thus making it easy to slot the player into the team.

For Moeen Ali, who has batted in a number of positions for the England team, this changing role is starting to cause a slight issue.

Speaking to Espncricinfo, he said, “Close in the future, I'd like to have a position I can try to nail down."

He’s not enjoyed the best time with the bat in England’s latest travels to Bangladesh and India. "I was down to bat five from Bangladesh onwards," he said. "But form or balance of the side meant I was pushed up to four and then three in the last innings. I don't have a clue where I'm batting here yet. I'll probably find out tomorrow" he added.

He scored a century batting at No.5 in the first Test at Rajkot, but failed in the second Test batting in the same position. England were forced to reshuffle in the third Test at Vizag where Moeen Ali didn’t fare well batting at No. 4 and No.3.

A closer look at his career numbers suggests that he performs best lower down in the order at No. 7 where he has an average of 87.85 with 3 centuries from the 7 Tests he batted in that position. The higher up you go in the order, the lower his average gets indicating he prefers a position lower down.

In his 35 Tests so far, he has scored over 1500 runs at an average of 33 while picking up 95 wickets at average of 39, a stat he would surely like to improve.

Despite the setbacks in Vizag and Mohali, Moeen Ali remains in an upbeat mood and will continue to play his natural game. "I naturally play in quite a positive way anyway. I just need to try to go back to how I batted in the first Test and try to replicate that. Sometimes it can go a bit too positive. We want to be positive, but in the right manner” he concluded.

England take on India in the 4^th Test at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai starting tomorrow, 8^th December.

[Video courtesy: English Cricket Board]

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