Moeen Ali answers England’s Ashes call to rejoin squad after two years away

Moeen Ali has agreed to return to the cauldron of the Ashes this summer after answering England’s call to face Australia in the five-Test men’s series that gets under way in his home city of Birmingham next week.

Faced with the shock emergence of a lower back stress fracture that ruled Jack Leach out of all five Tests over the next two months, England assessed their spin stocks and decided Moeen was the first-choice replacement. This comes despite the all-rounder retiring from Test cricket 18 months ago after 64 caps, 2,914 runs and 195 wickets.

The 4-0 Ashes defeat that winter saw full regime change and England have since set off on a surging run of results under the captaincy of Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum. This period has energised old and new along the way and now, with Australia the next challenge for their aggressive methods, the pair are convinced a fluctuating talent like Moeen can become the latest to catch the bug.

Initial contact was made with Moeen on Sunday evening in the aftermath of Leach’s cruel injury – a sore back during the final day of 10-wicket over Ireland that was not expected to be so serious for Stokes’ No 1 spinner. After talks on Monday, Moeen has taken up the request having weighed up the lure of joining a team that has been flying against a personal lack of red-ball cricket since his Test retirement.

There was also an underwhelming record against Australia to consider – statistics that started well in 2015 but were torched by the away tour in 2017-18. But the fast-forward cricket being under Stokes and McCullum, and doubtless the testimony of England players living their best lives these days, has persuaded the all-rounder these memories can be replaced by something happier