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Moeen Ali - Performance Watch

Shades of Umar with the way Moeen dealt with Johson. [MENTION=56866]Bullet Drive[/MENTION]
 
Should bat at this position for a long time before getting a promotion; he's getting England runs and is batting well with the tail.
 
Not getting anything off the pitch and getting hit as a result. Not bowling badly though.
 
Has been below average with the ball but has played a couple of important cameos with the bat. Overall, not much to talk about so far.

Both him and Stokes will have to step up in the remaining two Tests with the ball and should look to score a hundred as well. They have been pretty much identical with the bat so far, but Stokes will have to bowl a lot more in the last two Tests in Anderson's absence.
 
Mamoon said:
Has been below average with the ball but has played a couple of important cameos with the bat. Overall, not much to talk about so far.

Both him and Stokes will have to step up in the remaining two Tests with the ball and should look to score a hundred as well. They have been pretty much identical with the bat so far, but Stokes will have to bowl a lot more in the last two Tests in Anderson's absence.
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I wouldn't say average it's what I expect of him, not bowl too bad and not too good either with a wicket. That's what you require of a part-timer and he got some runs with the bat to. Warne gave the perfect critique of his performance thus far, was saying that Mo is a batsman first and a part-timer with the ball so it's unfair to expect him to take wickets on a flat deck because of his natural side-spin grip which is more effective on turning pitches. Lyon on the other-hand or a Swann ought to perform better on flat decks because they get more bounce, turn, dip and overspin etc as the seam is pointing towards 1st/2nd slip. Because of what Warne said there are posters who think he doesn't like Mo :))) what the hell
 
Did well to get Starc at the end, varied his pace for once in this Test! and got a bit more turn and bounce. That one was a bit slower around 50mph
 
shaz619 said:
I wouldn't say average it's what I expect of him, not bowl too bad and not too good either with a wicket. That's what you require of a part-timer and he got some runs with the bat to. Warne gave the perfect critique of his performance thus far, was saying that Mo is a batsman first and a part-timer with the ball so it's unfair to expect him to take wickets on a flat deck because of his natural side-spin grip which is more effective on turning pitches. Lyon on the other-hand or a Swann ought to perform better on flat decks because they get more bounce, turn, dip and overspin etc as the seam is pointing towards 1st/2nd slip. Because of what Warne said there are posters who think he doesn't like Mo :))) what the hell
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He needs to improve his control on flat wickets, leaks runs frequently and needs to vary his pace. Goes through the motions quite often.

Not a surprise though regarding the Warne comment, people are just highly sensitive when it comes to any criticism directed at Moeen.
 
shaz619 said:
I wouldn't say average it's what I expect of him, not bowl too bad and not too good either with a wicket. That's what you require of a part-timer and he got some runs with the bat to. Warne gave the perfect critique of his performance thus far, was saying that Mo is a batsman first and a part-timer with the ball so it's unfair to expect him to take wickets on a flat deck because of his natural side-spin grip which is more effective on turning pitches. Lyon on the other-hand or a Swann ought to perform better on flat decks because they get more bounce, turn, dip and overspin etc as the seam is pointing towards 1st/2nd slip. Because of what Warne said there are posters who think he doesn't like Mo :))) what the hell
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Warne was spot on. But surprisingly one thing they didn't pick up as a key difference between Lyon and Moeen is the height. Lyons height allows him to bowl a more effective top spinner, and flight the ball above the eye line and apply dip through the top spin.

Over the next year or so ECB and Moeen really need to figure out what his primary role in the team is. I feel he is not good enough to be an all rounder, but he is decent enough with the bat to be in this middle order.
 
His quick runs at lower down the order are really helping his team. If he can continue contributing with some quick 40s 50s at this position he is good enough for the team even just as a bat.
 
He is doing a decent job with the bat but he is kind of playing as a bowling allrounder and I feel his contributions with the ball are close to nill.
 
He has turned out to be a batting all rounder! Cant rely much on his bowling! I will drop Buttler, give the gloves to Bairstow, promote Ali up the order and put a specialist spinner at 8!
 
zabalestmsm said:
He has turned out to be a batting all rounder! Cant rely much on his bowling! I will drop Buttler, give the gloves to Bairstow, promote Ali up the order and put a specialist spinner at 8!
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He has always been a batting all rounder.
 
Am not clear about his role in the team. Why does he come so low in the order when he is a much better batsman? I suspect its a defensive move because they want him to guard the tail and to be a safe option in case a quick cluster of wickets fall.
 
Will inevitably be moved up to 7 after Butler's failure this series but it remains to be seen whether he is good enough to just play as a specialist batsman in the middle order. I think he can play at 7 and average in the 30s at a healthy strike rate but I'm skeptical in regards to his defensive game and whether it's good enough for him to play in the top 6.
 
With the Ashes regained, I would drop Beard for the last test and give Rashid a go.
 
Robert said:
With the Ashes regained, I would drop Beard for the last test and give Rashid a go.
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I just don't get why Eng hasn't tried that already. They have a strong batting line up, they can definitely afford to play a proper spinner than Moin. Rashid is also a decent bat for a no. 8..
 
It's because Rashid isn't that much better a bowler than Moeen.

Unless Moeen falls apart with both bat and ball, Rashid won't get a test cap until two spinners are required.
 
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If rather drop Buttler for Rashid. They need to give these two spinners a shot together before the UAE series. Way too many expectations will be place on Rashid otherwise over there in his debut series.
 
Who do Pakistani fans like more? Moeen Ali, or Adil Rashid?
 
Can't seem to bowl these days, but his cameos are helping the team.
 
Haters are going to hate - but Moeen continues excelling in at least one facet of the game.
 
Buttlers a poor keeper on spin bowling. Cost him about 4 or 5 wickets in the last 5-6 test matches.
Saying that Moeens bowling has gone backward this year. He has been coached to be normal English spinner
 
England are one pure-bowler short in their team. Neither Ali, nor Stokes have the numbers for a proper bowler but they give the team so much depth that dropping either would be silly and uncalled for.

Put Lyth out of his misery and let Ali open in the next game. He can't and won't do any worse. Then finally give Adil Rashid a test cap and see what all the hype is about.
 
zabalestmsm said:
He has turned out to be a batting all rounder! Cant rely much on his bowling! I will drop Buttler, give the gloves to Bairstow, promote Ali up the order and put a specialist spinner at 8!
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Which specialist spinner do you have in mind

Moeen has played his part for the team with some good cameos , this team doesn't need a sobers , someone who will just tidy up, give the other bowlers a rest and score some late runs in time for a declaration is sufficient

In that sense Ali is fine where he is as is the team
 
Cricketrenew said:
Buttlers a poor keeper on spin bowling. Cost him about 4 or 5 wickets in the last 5-6 test matches.
Saying that Moeens bowling has gone backward this year. He has been coached to be normal English spinner
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Yeah, what a shock. The guy born and raised in England plays like he's English.
 
Bilal7 said:
England are one pure-bowler short in their team. Neither Ali, nor Stokes have the numbers for a proper bowler but they give the team so much depth that dropping either would be silly and uncalled for.

Put Lyth out of his misery and let Ali open in the next game. He can't and won't do any worse. Then finally give Adil Rashid a test cap and see what all the hype is about.
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Agree with this although I wouldn't let Moeen open.
 
Moeen is playing quite a cheeky little role in the team at the moment - he's managing to contribute some really important runs and wickets without actually having a particularly great record statistically. Also, watching him bat, you can tell that he is very talented.

Clearly, racking up big numbers for your own purposes and adding genuine value to a team are rather different things.

If we find a top-class spinner from somewhere, then fine, there is good rationale to replace him. But after the Ashes has just come home and Moeen has helped to make that happen, he should stay in the side right now.
 
Honestly, if he takes his batting seriously and focuses primarily on that then he can go places. His timing is impeccable. His downfall is he is always going to plagued by soft dismissals and lapses of concentration. I don't rate his bowling, still can't fathom how India couldn't play him LOL.
 
James said:
Moeen is playing quite a cheeky little role in the team at the moment - he's managing to contribute some really important runs and wickets without actually having a particularly great record statistically. Also, watching him bat, you can tell that he is very talented.

Clearly, racking up big numbers for your own purposes and adding genuine value to a team are rather different things.

If we find a top-class spinner from somewhere, then fine, there is good rationale to replace him. But after the Ashes has just come home and Moeen has helped to make that happen, he should stay in the side right now.
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If you hear him speak although he is disappoints not to be getting top scores he knows cricket is not the know all and be all and it shows in his cricket
You rarely see him panicking
 
Until Mason Crane develops both Ali and Rashid will remain in the hunt. His bowling has deteriorated this year and he still throws away his wicket away too often. As I have said before, he has more than enough talent to succeed at this level but never really shows the hunger and application at this level and it doesn't help that he bats with 9, 10 and Jimmy.
 
Asif khan said:
Honestly, if he takes his batting seriously and focuses primarily on that then he can go places. His timing is impeccable. His downfall is he is always going to plagued by soft dismissals and lapses of concentration. I don't rate his bowling, still can't fathom how India couldn't play him LOL.
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Because they are product of T20 tamasha cricket in which goal is to destroy the bowler especially in IPL variant which does not work in real cricket.
 
chacha kashmiri said:
Which specialist spinner do you have in mind

Moeen has played his part for the team with some good cameos , this team doesn't need a sobers , someone who will just tidy up, give the other bowlers a rest and score some late runs in time for a declaration is sufficient

In that sense Ali is fine where he is as is the team
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Adil Rashid.

Moeen is doing the job at the moment in the role which has been given to him.
 
James said:
Moeen is playing quite a cheeky little role in the team at the moment - he's managing to contribute some really important runs and wickets without actually having a particularly great record statistically. Also, watching him bat, you can tell that he is very talented.

Clearly, racking up big numbers for your own purposes and adding genuine value to a team are rather different things.

If we find a top-class spinner from somewhere, then fine, there is good rationale to replace him. But after the Ashes has just come home and Moeen has helped to make that happen, he should stay in the side right now.
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I doubt Mo is ever bothered about the stats when he goes out there; he puts the team requirements above everything. Has batted very positively throughout the series and that's what England have required of him, he has his weaknesses but can occupy the crease to as proven on the county circuit and that hundred against Lanka. Mo has the potential to be a decent middle order batsman and although he is doing well in his given role it will always be a case of what if because his batting will not develop at the position he is currently at and if England have no plans to promote him in the future. Pretty much a bit of a utility in Tests to, see Mo playing the same role as Ashley Giles for a long time.
 
chacha kashmiri said:
If you hear him speak although he is disappoints not to be getting top scores he knows cricket is not the know all and be all and it shows in his cricket
You rarely see him panicking
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I agree, and this is mostly fine - I would like to see some fire in the belly from him now and again though. For example when Australia were tonking us at Lord's, Moeen's response with the bat was casual to the point of being unprofessional - hence he lasted less than 2 minutes.
 
James said:
I agree, and this is mostly fine - I would like to see some fire in the belly from him now and again though. For example when Australia were tonking us at Lord's, Moeen's response with the bat was casual to the point of being unprofessional - hence he lasted less than 2 minutes.
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It's a similar concern that Indian fans have had on MSD. His poker face comes across as aloof and uncaring at times. I know some South Africans who have the same criticism for Amla, but only when he doesn't score runs lol.
 
shaz619 said:
I doubt Mo is ever bothered about the stats when he goes out there; he puts the team requirements above everything. Has batted very positively throughout the series and that's what England have required of him, he has his weaknesses but can occupy the crease to as proven on the county circuit and that hundred against Lanka. Mo has the potential to be a decent middle order batsman and although he is doing well in his given role it will always be a case of what if because his batting will not develop at the position he is currently at and if England have no plans to promote him in the future. Pretty much a bit of a utility in Tests to, see Mo playing the same role as Ashley Giles for a long time.
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This demonstrates the problem really
There will always be a side in England that wants Moeen to epitomise The 'struggle' Muslims face and for him to fight their war against the powers to be by being a victim of a system of institutional racism and unfair demotion
The other side will demand Moeen always put in 100 when he puts on an England shirt wherever and whatever he is asked to do

Moeen needs to fight his own battle and continue to be a great role model
 
So.....when it's all said and done Mo did pretty well in the role which was given to him despite him being predicted to spectacularly fail in the Ashes series by certain peeps :yk2 3rd highest run scorer and wicket taker for England in the series.
 
3rd highest run scorer doesn't mean much because apart from Root, every English batsmen failed with the bat.

Cook and Mooen 2 fifties in 9 innings, Bell 3 fifties in 9 innings, Stokes 2 fifties in 8 innings, none for Buttler. Bairstow and Ballance didn't do much either with Lyth the biggest failure of course.

With the ball he was poor. High economy rate and did not trouble the Australian batsmen much, except for Warner throwing his wicket away a few times.

This just goes to show how poorly India handled him last summer - 19 wickets in 5 Tests and a 6-fer, that is unacceptable.

He had a poor series but same goes for majority of the players, so he cannot be singled out.
 
shaz619 said:
So.....when it's all said and done Mo did pretty well in the role which was given to him despite him being predicted to spectacularly fail in the Ashes series by certain peeps :yk2 3rd highest run scorer and wicket taker for England in the series.
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As a number 8 batsman and the fifth choice bowler, he did pretty much perfectly, nobody could have asked for more from a number 8/fifth bowler. But I'm sure Moeen has much higher ambitions than that. And, objectively, his performance was hardly exceptional either with bat or ball. It's just that, once again, you don't expect more than handy runs from a number 8 and the odd wicket from the fifth bowler.

Nevertheless, he has probably done enough to justify his place for the next series at least. Thing is, in the UAE, he'll have to step up to being the third choice bowler (a key role) and possibly opening the batting as well.
 
Should bat in the middle order. Going forward he should replace Bairstrow at 5. He is very unlikely to make a century or even a 50 when batting with the tail. He is being treated unfairly by the management.
 
A successful first Ashes experience for him. Funny how some people were even doubting whether he would get to play a single Ashes test.

Was the second highest England run-scorer until the dead rubber, ending as the third-highest. As far as his runs go, it was about the quality, more than the quantity as anyone who saw him score vital runs with tail and put England into dominant positions. The fact that four or five other batsmen, batting ahead of him, failed spectacularly with the bat just makes his contributions that much better.

Needs to work on minimizing the occurrence of that four-ball that he bowls every over. He did pick up 12 wickets, which was the joint second-best haul of the series, IIRC, but was not economical at all. Younis, Misbah, Sarfaraz and Shafiq will make him pay if he doesn't fix this before the first test in Abu Dhabi. Still, the talent and ability is there and he should improve as he is iven more responsibility.

Becoming a crucial cog of the English lineup. :moali
 
Bilal7 said:
A successful first Ashes experience for him. Funny how some people were even doubting whether he would get to play a single Ashes test.

Was the second highest England run-scorer until the dead rubber, ending as the third-highest. As far as his runs go, it was about the quality, more than the quantity as anyone who saw him score vital runs with tail and put England into dominant positions. The fact that four or five other batsmen, batting ahead of him, failed spectacularly with the bat just makes his contributions that much better.

Needs to work on minimizing the occurrence of that four-ball that he bowls every over. He did pick up 12 wickets, which was the joint second-best haul of the series, IIRC, but was not economical at all. Younis, Misbah, Sarfaraz and Shafiq will make him pay if he doesn't fix this before the first test in Abu Dhabi. Still, the talent and ability is there and he should improve as he is iven more responsibility.

Becoming a crucial cog of the English lineup. :moali
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Successful really?lol
I have seen the whole series barring one or two innings with the bat he was mediocre and with the ball he was as good as a good part timer should be..
 
Third highest England run scorer
Third highest wicket taker

Brilliant all-round performance. Although it didn't take much to beat these washed up Dad's Army Aussies.
 
MRSN said:
Successful really?lol
I have seen the whole series barring one or two innings with the bat he was mediocre and with the ball he was as good as a good part timer should be..
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Well, pretty much every expert who has rated the English players has given him a good grade.

If you're saying that he was mediocre with the bat, I doubt if you actually watched the games. He was England's second-best batsman for a reason, up until the last match.

What more could he have achieved?
 
Did whatever role was given to him this series quite well I thought. I don't see what else he could've done with the bat whilst batting at 8? He got some crucial quickfire runs and built some useful partnerships down the order. Not possible for him to be cracking hundreds batting at number 8 lol. In terms of his bowling, yes he was probably abit more expensive than he would've liked but he did chip in with some crucial wickets at times on pitches that weren't really suited for spin bowling.

And at the end of the day he's an Ashes winner and congrats to him for that. Well done Moeen!
 
As a bat moeen scored some vital runs his counter attacking at Cardiff was vital but his bowling needs to improbe if england want to do well in asia and uae moeen as their first choice isnt good enough. Moeen will get smashed in UAE unless he improves. Younis will sweep him out of test cricket

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
 
Batting brilliantly at No.3 for England in T20

13.4
Boyce to Ali, SIX, that's bigger! Uses his feet and picks up a delivery around leg stump with a free swing of the arms over deep midwicket. Effortless.
13.3
Boyce to Ali, FOUR, short again, and this time it's pulled with power and placement wide of deep midwicket. Lovely quick footwork and quick hands. Superb fifty off 31 balls
13.2
Boyce to Ali, SIX, he targets the short boundary, basically just slugs a length delivery straight down the ground
 
lol at the comparisons with Hafeez. Moeen is miles better as a bat than the Professor. You have to be immensely talented to handle the pace with which the Aussies bowled with today and play such a knock. Don't see Hafeez ever being able to handle a Cummins or Starc bowling in the early 90 clicks like that. We all saw what happened to Hafeez when he came up against Lee and Tait in the 2011 WC, bottler.
 
Great innings today. Moeen is a very special player. I wish his family hadn't moved to England.
 
The_KING said:
Great innings today. Moeen is a very special player. I wish his family hadn't moved to England.
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They've been hear a long time, big family into cricket; kadeer was on the fringes of being selected for England and Kabir represented the international team at one point. Mo is the most talented out of all of them. Another guy from my city that was decent was Alamgir Sheriyar, think he was selected for the A team but got injured and England never gave him another look; could have developed into a great bowler for England.
 
It's funny really....when he doesn't do well this place has instant replies and multiple to a dozen posts about how bad he is and how the beard is the reason why we all like him. It's the complete opposite when he actually does well.

tumbleweed03.gif
 
Mamoon licking his wounds after Amla and Ali have good performances.

Also funny to see how a couple of people are suddenly Ali's biggest supporters after predicting and wanting him to be dropped during the Ashes.
 
Sherlock said:
It's funny really....when he doesn't do well this place has instant replies and multiple to a dozen posts about how bad he is and how the beard is the reason why we all like him. It's the complete opposite when he actually does well.

tumbleweed03.gif
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He has his haters, in particular mainly the Indians but I guess it's understandable when you look at how he owned them last summer. Besides that there are others who dislike him mainly because of the attention his beard receives, I don't know maybe that's just Mamoon. Anyhow Mo is still finding his feet in the Test Arena but has generally done well in the limited forms thus far; expect him to get back into the ODI team for the series against Australia.
 
Bilal7 said:
Mamoon licking his wounds after Amla and Ali have good performances.

Also funny to see how a couple of people are suddenly Ali's biggest supporters after predicting and wanting him to be dropped during the Ashes.
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:)) did you say that with a straight face?

What good performances? yeah he has been great in this low profile bilateral series vs. NZ, but he has always been impeccable on this platform.

He failed completely at the World Cup (as expected) and only reinforced the notion that he is a big botter in ODIs when it comes to high-intensity, important matches.

If anything, you should avoid bringing up Amla after the disastrous World Cup. I do appreciate your nerve.


Moeen is a good ODI/T20 player. I haven't seen anyone question his performances in the shorter formats, but he is yet to prove himself as a quality Test cricketer.

Yeah he was third best for England in both batting and bowling, but it doesn't say much because only Root and Broad had a quality series....everyone else blew hot and cold, with Lyth and Bell the two significant flops.

He is not a Test class spinner or a Test class batsman, but he can do bit of both and thus has a place in the team for now - England don't have specialist spinners and all of them are clearly inferior with the bat compared to Moeen, so they have no genuine alternatives.
 
Mamoon said:
:)) did you say that with a straight face?

What good performances? yeah he has been great in this low profile bilateral series vs. NZ, but he has always been impeccable on this platform.

He failed completely at the World Cup (as expected) and only reinforced the notion that he is a big botter in ODIs when it comes to high-intensity, important matches.

If anything, you should avoid bringing up Amla after the disastrous World Cup. I do appreciate your nerve.


Moeen is a good ODI/T20 player. I haven't seen anyone question his performances in the shorter formats, but he is yet to prove himself as a quality Test cricketer.

Yeah he was third best for England in both batting and bowling, but it doesn't say much because only Root and Broad had a quality series....everyone else blew hot and cold, with Lyth and Bell the two significant flops.

He is not a Test class spinner or a Test class batsman, but he can do bit of both and thus has a place in the team for now - England don't have specialist spinners and all of them are clearly inferior with the bat compared to Moeen, so they have no genuine alternatives.
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do you think he can eventually develop into a test class batsmen? I think with some work and his determination, he could develop into a very good test batsmen

I do not see him becoming a great or even a very good test bowler though, i think he can be a decent spinner who can break partnerships every now and then, provide good support to the main bowlers etc.
 
hk031992 said:
do you think he can eventually develop into a test class batsmen? I think with some work and his determination, he could develop into a very good test batsmen

I do not see him becoming a great or even a very good test bowler though, i think he can be a decent spinner who can break partnerships every now and then, provide good support to the main bowlers etc.
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Well yes he can if he improves his temperament and learns to handle the short ball - he is an extremely good timer of the ball and has lovely wrists, you can see that he's a subcontinental batsman, but he is too aggressive for his own good and his shot selection has been poor.

As far as bowling is concerned, he gives the ball a good rip and spins a lot, enticing the batsmen to go after him and they end up throwing their wickets away. India did that last summer but Australia handled him better, with the exception of Warner.

He needs to learn to bowl defensively as well and keep the run rate in check if he's providing support to the frontline bowlers; his economy rate in general is awful.

It will be interesting to see how he bowls in the UAE against a variety of batsmen - Azhar, Misbah and Shafiq will be happy to dead bat him, while Sarfraz and Younis will be looking to take him on - it will be interesting to see how he bowls in the second innings in the UAE, which will be a good litmus test of his caliber as a Test class spinner.

Obviously, you can't put it past our batters to make a hero out of him given our history, and certainly a few people on PakPassion would be praying that he takes wickets (but England lose) so this his average does not suffer.
 
Mamoon said:
Well yes he can if he improves his temperament and learns to handle the short ball - he is an extremely good timer of the ball and has lovely wrists, you can see that he's a subcontinental batsman, but he is too aggressive for his own good and his shot selection has been poor.

As far as bowling is concerned, he gives the ball a good rip and spins a lot, enticing the batsmen to go after him and they end up throwing their wickets away. India did that last summer but Australia handled him better, with the exception of Warner.

He needs to learn to bowl defensively as well and keep the run rate in check if he's providing support to the frontline bowlers; his economy rate in general is awful.

It will be interesting to see how he bowls in the UAE against a variety of batsmen - Azhar, Misbah and Shafiq will be happy to dead bat him, while Sarfraz and Younis will be looking to take him on - it will be interesting to see how he bowls in the second innings in the UAE, which will be a good litmus test of his caliber as a Test class spinner.

Obviously, you can't put it past our batters to make a hero out of him given our history, and certainly a few people on PakPassion would be praying that he takes wickets (but England lose) so this his average does not suffer.
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I agree with most of what you are saying. I personally do not want him to do well against us, heck i do not want anyone to do well vs us, i think we will handle him just fine.

I do like him as a batsmen though, reminds me a little of Saeed Anwar, not due to the beard but because of his wrist work. Obviously Anwar was a quality test opener and Moeen has a long way to go before remotely coming close to him. And while Moeen hits some gorgeous shots, his game is not as aesthetically pleasing as Anwar's. Still, i enjoy watching him bat and hope he succeeds.
 
Mamoon said:
:)) did you say that with a straight face?

What good performances? yeah he has been great in this low profile bilateral series vs. NZ, but he has always been impeccable on this platform.

He failed completely at the World Cup (as expected) and only reinforced the notion that he is a big botter in ODIs when it comes to high-intensity, important matches.

If anything, you should avoid bringing up Amla after the disastrous World Cup. I do appreciate your nerve.


Moeen is a good ODI/T20 player. I haven't seen anyone question his performances in the shorter formats, but he is yet to prove himself as a quality Test cricketer.

Yeah he was third best for England in both batting and bowling, but it doesn't say much because only Root and Broad had a quality series....everyone else blew hot and cold, with Lyth and Bell the two significant flops.

He is not a Test class spinner or a Test class batsman, but he can do bit of both and thus has a place in the team for now - England don't have specialist spinners and all of them are clearly inferior with the bat compared to Moeen, so they have no genuine alternatives.
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No need to talk about the WC now, Amla did decently in my book. I was talking about his recent performances and you couldn't have been happy about that.

The other players failing makes one appreciate Ali's performance even more. Both his half-centuries contributed heavily to England winning the Ashes and apart from the one duck, his cameos also helped highlight that he belongs at this level, with the bat. How is he not a test class batsman? Do you ever plan on providing any proof for your statements? If you do want more proof of his class, watch his century against Sri Lanka where he put his attacking instincts to bed and used grit to try and draw the game.

He's batted at #6, #8 and might even open the batting, in tests. His versatility is commendable and I don't see him losing his place in the tests side due to this, barring a horrible run of form.

As a spinner, he's the best in England, so there doesn't even need to be a debate on that front.
 
Bilal7 said:
No need to talk about the WC now, Amla did decently in my book. I was talking about his recent performances and you couldn't have been happy about that.

The other players failing makes one appreciate Ali's performance even more. Both his half-centuries contributed heavily to England winning the Ashes and apart from the one duck, his cameos also helped highlight that he belongs at this level, with the bat. How is he not a test class batsman? Do you ever plan on providing any proof for your statements? If you do want more proof of his class, watch his century against Sri Lanka where he put his attacking instincts to bed and used grit to try and draw the game.

He's batted at #6, #8 and might even open the batting, in tests. His versatility is commendable and I don't see him losing his place in the tests side due to this, barring a horrible run of form.

As a spinner, he's the best in England, so there doesn't even need to be a debate on that front.
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He has shown lack of temperament and throws his wicket often, that's why he cannot be considered a Test class batsman.

That hundred vs. Sri Lanka more than a year ago remains his only great Test innings to date, where he fought it out and occupied the crease for a long period of time.

He might open in the UAE but that's a stop gap solution, since England would need a second spinner there. Will be back in the lower-order afterwards.

He is a Limited Overs specialist who is being forced to play Test cricket thanks to England's inability to find a worthy successor of Swann and he happens to bat and bowl better than any other spinner at this point.

It's like Shoaib Malik getting picked in Tests if we don't have any Test quality spinner and the others bowl and bat worse than him.

Not saying Malik is better than Moeen, the latter is way better with the ball and probably better with the bat as well, but my point is that a Limited Overs specialist being made to play Test cricket because of the lack of options and alternatives does not make him a Test standard cricketer.

In isolation, neither his bowling or batting is good enough for Test level, but as a package, he has enough value for England given their pool of spinners.

I don't see why it is offensive to say so, and nor does that mean that he cannot develop into a class Test player, but that's based on what he has exhibited so far.
 
Where did you mention me [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]? That post seems to be deleted.
 
At the moment Mo is not a Test Class Spinner or Test Class Batsman but he does a bit of both and his utility is invaluable to England, at the moment he is doing pretty well in the Ashley Giles like Role which has been given to him and it's not a matter of England not having found a Swann Replacement because they'd given the likes of Adil or Tredwell an extended run a long time ago in favour of Moeen but they prefer the balance he brings to the test team.

Having said that England should look to develop Mo in to a World Class Batting A/R and although no.8 is a position he has performed well in with the bat they should look to promote him up the order to no.6 eventually because he does have the ability to improve, it's all up to how determined he is but going by his FC career with Worster I have faith that he can develop into a decent bat in Test Cricket because at one point he was completely out of sorts at the county level being bowled leaving deliveries etc he didn't know where his off stump was yet he grinded it out and overcame the technical issue.

People will be overly critical of him expecting a high level after a few series but he is relatively young in internationals and one would hope he gets better and he'll have to do just that to sustain his international career despite doing what has been asked of him thus far. Good news is Worster will always give him all the tools he is required to succeed, are even willing to have him open for their FC team if England are really interested in going down that route in the UAE.
 
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Mo had a successful Ashes Series and England are pleased with his performance, it's just hard for some to digest given that he was expected to fail with the likes of Johnson etc ending his test career and all.
 
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