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Moeen to skip bowling in Perth warm-up

CricketMoeen to skip bowling in Perth warm-up

Moeen Ali will not bowl in England XI’s two-day warm-up match against Cricket Australia XI in Perth due to continuing problems with his spinning finger.Moen ali

Moeen cut the finger during the first Test in Brisbane but, despite resting it in the run-up to the second game, has continued to struggle for effectiveness, having been comprehensively out-bowled by his Australian counterpart, Nathan Lyon.

Moeen’s problems, however, started before the cut. He sustained a side strain in the first couple of days of the tour which prevented him from playing in the first two warm-up games. As a result, his finger had not hardened sufficiently to withstand the rigours of bowling with a Kookaburra ball, which he feels has a sharper seam. Within a few overs of bowling in the Brisbane Test – where he came on with the ball just eight-overs old and its seam still hard and proud – he was sporting a deep cut on his finger.

When he was named captain of the side for the warm-up game, it was presumed that he was keen to gain some rhythm with the ball. But he has now said he will play as a specialist batsman in the hope of gaining some experience of the extra bounce that is sometimes prevalent in Perth. With Stokes’ absence lengthening England’s tail, Moeen’s form with the bat has also taken on extra importance.

“I probably won’t bowl this game,” Moeen said. “Just so my finger has more time. It needs to heal. As soon as I start bowling, it starts to rip a little.

“I’m a finger spinner. It’s the one thing I need to be 100%. I ripped it in the first game and it’s not been easy. I didn’t score many runs or take many wickets in Adelaide, so it was a tough game.

“I need a bit more time for healing. It is healing now. I didn’t bowl much in the second innings in Adelaide, which was actually quite good for my finger, and hopefully, another five or six days’ rest will be quite good for it.”

The problem for Moeen – and England – is that while his finger cannot stand the workload, he needs to bowl to gain rhythm and confidence. After an impressive English summer – he was Player of the Series against South Africa, taking 25 wickets at 15.64 – he has struggled for both bite and consistency in Australia and has claimed only two wickets at a cost of 98 apiece so far. Lyon, by contrast, has taken 11 at 22.72.

Both the captain, Joe Root, and the coach, Trevor Bayliss, have intimated that Moeen will play in the third Test in Perth. And, with the balance of the side altered in the absence of Ben Stokes, it seems unlikely that England will risk going into the game without four seamers. As such, it remains hard to see how they could bring in another spinner, with Mason Crane and Jack Leach, both of whom have yet to play Test cricket, the viable options.

All of which means England need Moeen at his best if they are to offer any sort of variation or spin threat. While the surface in Perth does not tend to offer spinners much turn, it does provide bounce while the strong breeze can aid drift. And, of course, England have to avoid defeat if they are to retain any hopes of keeping hold of the Ashes.

“Two-nil down isn’t great, but we’ve still got a chance,” Moeen said. “It’s a slight chance, but we’ve a good enough team and we’ve shown enough fight to show we can compete and get back into the series.

“We took a lot out of Adelaide. We were poor in the first couple of days, but then we started to fight back and that made us closer as a team. We started to believe a bit more. On the last day we couldn’t do it, but as a team we believe we can definitely fight.”

Meanwhile, Moeen dismissed questions about sledging as “a shame” but something that “should have been expected.”

“It happens in a big series,” he said. “I try not to get involved. Both sides have done a bit so you have to take it on the chin. It’s a big series and the opposition will try anything to get into your bubble.

“It if gets personal, it’s a shame, but you kind of expect it. It happens in England.”

The match, at Richardson Park, does not have first-class status and is likely to involve all 12 players named as part of the England squad.

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