England allrounder Moeen Ali praises veteran seamer, James Anderson by saying team England will be better with him in the playing 11. ECB announced the playing 11 for the 4th Ashes Test scheduled to play on Wednesday where James Anderson has been included in the squad in the place of Ollie Robinson.
Moeen Ali Praises James Anderson Following his inclusion in 4th Ashes Test
After losing the first 2 tests, England won the 3rd Ashes test and postponed Asutralia’s victory. The hosts need to win the match to stay alive in the series. Notably, England won the 3rd Test game of the series without Anderson while Ollie Robinson failed to bag a single wicket in the 3rd.
“There’s no doubt England are a better team with James Anderson in there,” Moeen said.
“In the two games he played I actually thought he bowled really well in both of them. I think he’s been a bit unfortunate with catches and things probably not going his way.
Being the best bowler England have ever had and being a legend of a player and a great guy as well, it’s great to see him have the opportunity to play, it could be his last one, and hopefully he bowls well and gets us the win, he added.
Moeen Ali also claims that batting at no 3 against the strong Australian bowling attack won’t be an easy task.
“It’s obviously going to be a challenge batting No 3 against Australia with the best bowling attack in the world,” Moeen said.
Moeen Ali went on to extend his praise over England batter Harry Brook who crossed 1000+ test runs in the 10 matches he played so far.
“I’m looking forward to it. I think Brook is a great player and will be a great player. I just personally feel like five is great for him and the impact he can have at five is much more than what he can probably do at three, at the moment”.
“I’m not saying he won’t be a good No.3 I just feel right now for the team it’s probably best that I go three. I do enjoy batting three, the challenge of batting three.
I think for the team right now it’s the best thing. I’m looking forward to playing against these guys and getting challenged. I know it’s not easy because they are obviously very good”, Moeen added.
The 36-year-old also admitted that England have fought well in the series so far against the top-ranked side and the current World Test champions even though they are trailing 2-1.
“I think I think we’ve challenged the number one team in the world and we’ve gone toe to toe with them,” he said.
“At crucial times they’ve managed to win that battle but I don’t think we’re far off. All the games have been fantastic but the belief in the changing room is that we can win this series, 3-2 and there’s no doubt we have that.”
On his own future in Test cricket, Moeen remained non-committal having just made a comeback for the Ashes following Jack Leach’s injury.
“For me, it’s going through these two games if I play these two games,” he pointed out.
“I just want to get through that and see. It’s not easy. I find Test cricket very hard and it is the hardest and best format out there for sure”.
“I have really enjoyed my time since I’ve come back and it’s been a brilliant environment. I wish it was this four-five years ago, I’m not thinking too far ahead. I’m sure Baz (Brendon McCullum) and Stokesy (Ben Stokes) will speak to me after the summer but for me at the moment it’s just this series”, Moeen Ali added.
James Anderson played 181 tests and bagged 688 wickets so far and is expected to play the last 2 final games of the Ashes 2023 and bag 12 wickets to cross the 700 Test wickets mark.
The 4th Test game of the Ashes 2023 will be played on July 19 in Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester while the final match of the series will be played on July 27 in Kennington Oval, London.
