All-rounder Moeen Ali, who announced his retirement from international cricket, believes Brendon McCullum is the right man to take the white-ball team forward as the head coach, adding the move will also help captain Jos Buttler.
Following Matthew Mott’s exit, McCullum was appointed to the role and will take charge from next year to be England’s all-format coach. “100 per cent. More than anything, it’s important for Jos Buttler, who needs the help McCullum can give him.
“Jos has a lot on his plate — captain, keeper, our best batsman. McCullum can take that away from him and make him enjoy it a bit more, because Jos can get down quickly,” said Moeen to Daily Mail.
Asked if he would have thrived had he played more Test cricket under McCullum and Ben Stokes, Moeen replied, “Definitely. I’d have enjoyed it. There was a period, when I first retired from Tests in 2021, that I didn’t enjoy the way we were playing, or the way I was. It wasn’t as much fun. These guys just bring the fun. I was pretty level most of the time, but I didn’t always enjoy batting at No 8. I felt I was wasting my batting.”
In a decade of playing international cricket, Moeen played 68 Tests, 138 ODIs and 92 T20Is for England, amassing 6678 runs, and 366 wickets across all formats. He also signs off as a 2019 ODI World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup winner.
Moeen also described 2019 ODI World Cup winning captain Eoin Morgan as the best skipper he has ever played under in his time as an England cricketer. “No doubt. Morgs was outstanding. I remember getting caught on the boundary soon after he became captain. I said to him: ‘I should have knocked it for one.’ He said: ‘Nah, next time it needs to go out of the ground.’ I thought: OK, this guy is interesting.
“I’m terrible if someone says don’t do this or that — I’ll end up doing it. He was outstanding at getting the best out of players. It was amazing to be part of that. That’s the sad thing about finishing with England, because I know they were the best days of my life,” he said.
Moeen also became the first British Asian to captain England during a T20I against Australia in 2020. He signed off by saying it has been comfortable for him and leg-spinner Adil Rashid to be inspirational figures for British Asian kids to pursue cricket as a career.
“It’s something I never thought about much at first. I just played. And then you think a bit more about who you’re representing. Kids look up to you for inspiration, in terms of changing mindsets in Asian families.
“A lot of the time it’s about being a doctor or whatever, but cricket is an amazing career. There’s a burden as well, because you’re constantly being looked at. But even if only a couple of people out there were inspired by us, we can be proud,” he concluded.
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