Moeen Ali 'just wants bit of a break from Test cricket', confirms Ashley Giles

Moeen Ali played just one match in the recent Ashes series before being dropped from the squad after which he decided to take a break from cricket.

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Moeen Ali 'just wants bit of a break from Test cricket', confirms Ashley Giles
Reuters Photo

In Short

  • Moeen Ali won't be available for England's upcoming Test tour to New Zealand
  • ECB handed Moeen Ali a limited-overs central contract
  • Moeen was dropped from the Test squad after the 1st Ashes Test at Edgbaston last month

England off-spinner Moeen Ali has decided to take a break from Test cricket and will now solely focus on white-ball cricket for some time to prolong his career, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) managing director Ashley Giles confirmed on Friday.

Ashley Giles said that although Moeen will take a break from the game, he has not retired from Test cricket. "He just wants a little bit of a break from Test cricket," said Giles.

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The ECB recently awarded central contracts for the 2019-20 season in which Moeen received only a white-ball contract after previously having contracts across all formats.

Moeen was dropped after a poor performance in the opening Test of the recent Ashes series lead month in Edgbaston where he picked up only three wickets in two innings (1-42 and 2-130) and did not score more than four runs.

Moeen then decided to take a break from cricket to "recharge his batteries" after he was dropped from the Ashes squad.

"I think for all the guys, not just talking about Moeen, it's been a really challenging summer. A World Cup and an Ashes back-to-back has had a massive effect on many of these guys, psychologically as much as physically.

"Some of those guys are still carrying that. His experience in the first Test wasn't a great one but that's cricket," Giles said.

In the year up to losing his place in the Test side Moeen had taken more wickets in Test cricket than anyone else in world cricket.

Commenting on Moeen's decision, Giles added: "He's been a great servant to this team and that's why I encouraged him to leave that option open for him to come back. He might just need that time away and freshen up but he's been a really good servant to this team and he's relatively young."