Moeen Ali: "Broadcasters say I ease it through the covers like David Gower… I have YouTubed him many times"

FROM THE MAG: In a great meeting of two lavishly gifted yet languid left-handers, David Gower interviewed Moeen Ali for our April 2023 magazine and bonded over how misunderstood their graceful batting has been at times

FROM THE MAGAZINE: It was the great meeting of the two lavishly gifted yet languid left-handers... David Gower interviewed Moeen Ali while they were both at the International League T20 in the United Arab Emirates. They bonded over how misunderstood their graceful batting has been at times, and delighted in the fun that cricket has given them.

David Gower writes every month for The Cricketer magazine. This is an abridged version of his interview with Moeen Ali that features in our April 2023 issue. To read the full, extensive interview, grab a copy of the magazine by clicking here.

David Gower: So Moeen, thank you for coming… are you enjoying this new league?

Moeen Ali: This is the life at the moment, playing cricket, at one of the best places in the world, staying in some of the best hotels… franchise cricket pays a lot, and I do enjoy playing T20… it's a good life I guess.

DG: But T20 can treat you as harshly as any format? 

MA: In T20 you have to stay calmer… in Tests I felt a lot more in control of what I could and couldn't do… I was a lot more selective in my batting. I could get through a spell, fight through. T20 is very exciting, though.

^{Moeen Ali and David Gower during this interview [The Cricketer]}

DG: For some reason Tests have proved too hard for some great county players…

MA: Test cricket is hard… it's not for everybody. You can have the greatest county record and technique, but there's something about it that's really difficult… there have been many players who have struggled… it's not about technique, but it's mental, and you are scrutinised big time, especially as a batter, and it really plays on minds.

The guys who do well are always level-headed, calmer, like Joe Root. He works extremely hard but he's always the same. Alastair Cook was the one who really surprised me… he wasn't the best-looking batsman in the world, but he always stayed the same, you couldn't tell in the evening if he'd scored a hundred or a duck. So they were the two guys who I played with who I think were outstanding in Test cricket.

DG: Did it take you a while to learn how to cope with it?

MA: Not really. I was already quite content with my life – playing for England was a bonus. I thought I'd play a couple of games here and there, I never thought I'd play 64 Tests.

I knew that if I allowed it, the pressure of Test cricket was going to be too much for me, if I thought about my batting and technique too much, so I went the other way: 'This is a bonus and I'm going to enjoy myself.' And I really did enjoy it, right until the end when I started finding it too hard…

DG: Allegedly we have similarities: left-handed… languid… you have the better beard… They have said we are careless… or we care less…

MA: Yes! I have heard broadcasters say I ease it through the covers like David Gower… I have YouTubed you many times…

DG: Good lad!

^{Moeen Ali [Julian Finney/Getty Images] and David Gower [Adrian Murrell/Allsport/Getty Images]}

MA: I've never thrown my kit. I do get over things quickly, but of course I'm disappointed. I always try hard. I just think, 'I'll try again the next day.'

DG: Did it annoy you when England shifted your batting position?

MA: Initially I batted well in county cricket, but then for England I played a lot as a bowler batting at No.8. It did dishearten me, even though it was great to play.

In those first couple of years I batted 1-9. In the UAE in 2015 I'd be bowling 40 overs then open! Batting at 8 was frustrating. I didn't think I could score big there, I'd end up slogging batting with Broady and Jimmy, no disrespect to them. When Peter Moores was coach I was No.6 and felt more of a batter. I was doing quite well in a side that wasn't performing, then I was down to No.8. It was later that I regretted all that.

DG: With your bowling, they called you a part-time spinner at the start… I always wondered what makes somebody a full-time spinner, taking their first five-fer, perhaps?

MA: I always felt part-time… I never claimed to be anything else. When my batting was off, I knew why it was off. I didn't have a clue when it was my bowling.

Luckily I had the genius Saqlain Mushtaq to coach me. I did have a mindset that I could get the best batters out as I could bowl good balls… my best ball was good enough, I could get Virat Kohli out, or whoever. But I couldn't hold an end down like Graeme Swann, keeping it down to two an over.

I wanted to face the best bowlers, I loved hitting Trent Boult and Tim Southee through the covers, and it was the same with the bowling: I loved bowling to Kane Williamson and Steve Smith, to say I got them out… but I didn't really have a spinner's mentality. I never woke up on the last morning of a Test thinking 'I'm going to bowl them out today'. Overall I went for a few runs but got a few wickets.

^{Moeen Ali bowling in 2021 [GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images]}

DG: What is your biggest motivating force?

MA: I love winning games and making a big impact. Nowadays it would be 40 off 20, changing the game. Playing for England is the greatest, the best, though, especially in World Cups. I love the team, the guys. Franchises watch what you do for England as well as they know it's the best standard of cricket.

DG: Do you worry you'll get franchise burnout?

MA: It varies from franchise from franchise. Meetings at Chennai are relaxed, while at other sides you can have four-hour meetings… MS Dhoni just gets players. Eoin Morgan was similar, always calm. They get what it's like for players being on tour, not to be over-burdened. Cricket isn't the problem, it's off the field.

DG: What do you make of England's Test transformation? That set-up seems similarly relaxed.

MA: It's been amazing – we won one Test in 17, now all of a sudden it's nine in 10 (before New Zealand… Ed). There are only one or two new faces. I do enjoy old-school Test cricket but I'm interested to see how long this new approach is going to work…

Inside our April 2023 issue of The Cricketer magazine, you'll also find:

- APRIL COVER FEATURE: Our bumper county season preview - with Lancashire picked out as this year's team to beat
- Free: Issue includes our invaluable summer fixtures wallchart
- George Dobell gives his thoughts on Ben Stokes' injury
- Mike Brearley admires the way modern players deal with celebrity
- Nasser Hussain grades England men's performances this winter
- Barney Ronay says Cameron Green is the future of the game
- Tanya Aldred puts Meg Lanning's Australians among all-time greats
- Whatever happened to ex-Kent captain Matthew Fleming?
- And much, much more...

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• Six reasons to pick up the April issue of The Cricketer!