Moeen Ali says ‘will delete’ any future SOS messages from Ben Stokes, confirms Test retirement

All-rounder Moeen Ali has made it amply clear that he will not be entertaining any further last-minute messages from Test skipper Ben Stokes and that the Oval Test was his final appearance in whites for England.

Ali had abruptly announced his retirement from Tests after the home series against India in the summer of 2021. He would however, come out of retirement and fill in as a last-minute replacement for injured off-spinner Jack Leach in the 2023 Ashes, which ended on Monday with hosts England and urn holders Australia sharing the honours.

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Ali would later reveal that he received a text from skipper Stokes which read, “Ashes?”. It didn’t take much convincing for the senior cricketer to change his mind about donning the whites again for what would eventually turn out to be one of the most closely-fought bilateral contests in recent memory.

Following England’s series-leveling 49-run victory in the fifth Test at The Oval, the 36-year-old confirmed he was indeed done with Tests, and will delete any future SOS messages from Stokes should the latter make another approach.

“If Stokesy messages me again, I’m going to delete it. That’s me done. I really have enjoyed it, and it’s great to finish on it,” Ali was quoted as telling BBC’s Test Match Special after the match.

“It feels amazing. To come back was a little bit daunting actually, because I’ve never played that well against Australia. It was one of those things where, when Stokesy asked me, I thought, ‘why not? I’m going to go into a brilliant side and I still believe I can do alright’,” added Ali.

Ali, who was part of England’s triumphs in the 2019 ODI World Cup and the 2022 T20 World Cup, finished with figures of 3/76 in his final Test outing, and nine wickets across the series. While he did not bowl in the first innings, he grabbed the key wicket of Travis Head (43) in the second, breaking the 95-run fourth-wicket partnership with Steve Smith (54) that turned the tide in the home team’s favour.

Moeen’s breakthrough would mark the beginning of a spectacular Australian batting collapse in which they crumble to 275/7 from 264/3.

Alex Carey (28) and Todd Murphy (18) gave the Englishmen a scare with a 35-run ninth-wicket stand before Stuart Broad, who bid an emotional farewell to the sport on Monday in south London, dismissed both to bring the series to a satisfying end for him and for his team.

Ali had also made vital contributions with the bat during the series. He had shifted himself to the No 3 slot to allow Harry Brook to move to the middle order, and ended up scoring 54 in the fourth Test in Manchester.