He says the decision was made after not being considered for England’s upcoming white-ball series against Australia
Moeen Ali played 68 Tests, 138 ODIs and 92 T20Is for England • Getty Images
Moeen Ali, the England allrounder, has announced his retirement from all internationals.
“I’m 37 years old and didn’t get picked for this month’s Australia series,” Moeen said in a Daily Mail interview. “I’ve played a lot of cricket for England. It’s time for the next generation, which was also explained to me. It felt the time was right. I’ve done my part.”
Following an international debut in 2014, Moeen played 68 Tests, 138 ODIs and 92 T20Is as an allrounder. He finishes with 6678 runs, eight centuries, 28 fifties and 366 wickets for England across all formats. His last international outing was England’s semi-final loss to India at the T20 World Cup in Guyana.
“I’m very proud. When you first play for England, you don’t know how many games you’re going to play. So to play nearly 300…My first few years were all about Test cricket. Once Morgs [Eoin Morgan] took over the one-day stuff, that was more fun. But Test cricket was the proper cricket.
“Even now, I’ve tried to be realistic. I could hold on and try to play for England again, but I know in reality I won’t. Even retiring, I don’t feel it’s because I’m not good enough — I still feel I can play. But I get how things are, and the team needs to evolve into another cycle. It’s about being real to myself.”
“People forget the impact you make in games. It might only have been 20 or 30, but it was a crucial 20 or 30. For me, it was about making an impact. I know what I brought to the side, on and off the field. As long as I felt people enjoyed watching me play, whether or not I did well, I was happy with that.”
Moeen will continue playing franchise cricket, and hopes to be involved in coaching moving forward.
“A bit of franchise cricket, because I still love playing. But coaching is something I want to do — I want to be one of the best. I can learn a lot from Baz [Brendon McCullum]. I hope people remember me as a free spirit. I played some nice shots and some bad shots, but hopefully people enjoyed watching me.”
Moeen is currently set to play his maiden CPL season in the Caribbean, having signed up as a replacement player for defending champions Guyana Amazon Warriors. In terms of franchise cricket over the last 12 months, he has also represented Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, the Joburg Super Kings in SA20 and Comilla Victorians in the BPL.
On his greatest moment, he said: “Winning the Ashes and two World Cups was great, but from an individual point of view it was my Test hat-trick against South Africa at the Oval to win us the game. And I’m proud to have the fastest T20 50 for England (16 balls vs South Africa in 2022).”
