After the first Test of the Ashes series 2023, the former Australian great Ian Chappell expressed his strong criticism of England’s decision to include Moeen Ali in the 2023 Ashes series. Chappell believed that a finger spinner is made to control the flow of runs and take the crucial wickets on such wickets but Moeen Ali failed to role in both parts.
Moeen Ali has returned to Test Cricket after September 2021 and he has a figure of 47-6-207-3 during the Edgbaston Test. The 36-year-old spinner struggled with his length in the second innings due to a finger injury. The biggest achievement for Moeen Ali was that he managed to get Travis Head in both innings.
Ian Chappell has said that the selection of Moeen Ali for the Ashes Test was the biggest error by England Cricket Management. He further said that Rehan Ahmed could have been the smart choice for the English team.
Chappell said, “Their biggest mistake was jumping everybody else and calling Moeen Ali back. The problem England has got is I think they want a certain type of spin bowler and Rehan Ahmed is not the type of bowler they want. That’s the wrong way to look at selection. You do that differently to a finger spinner. They seem to want a finger spinner who gives them control, well Moeen Ali will never do that because he’s not good enough.”
Till now, Rehan has played only one Test Match, that too against Pakistan in Karachi where he got a fifer in the second innings. Chappell at the same time talks about the poor wicket-keeping skills of Jonny Bairstow and said that Ben Foakes should have been there in place of Bairstow.
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“They haven’t got a proper wicketkeeper which cost them dearly. You’ve got aging pace bowlers who were obviously worn down from earlier in the game and also if you want to mount a bouncer attack, they haven’t got the attack to do it. You’ve got to pick your best keeper, and Foakes is far and away their best keeper. It’s not as though Foakes is a gimme with the bat, he’s good with the bat. To me, that was a mistake.”
