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England captain Ben Stokes revealed that all-rounder Moeen Ali stepped himself up to coach Brendon McCollum and asked to be sent on to bat at number three in Headingley’s chase. While Moeen was bowled for 5 by Mitchell Stark, Stokes praised the senior cricketer for wanting to raise his hand for the team.
England beat Australia by three wickets in a thrilling Test at Headingley on Sunday 9 July to keep their Ashes 2023 hopes alive. Chasing 251, England got home thanks to Harry Brook’s 75 and decisive bunting from Chris Woakes (32*) and Mark Wood (16*).
In a surprising move, Moeen was out to bat at number three after Ben Duquette was trapped lbw by Starc for 23. Opening up about the change in the batting order, Stokes revealed that the suggestion had come from the man himself.
“He came to ‘Baz’ (McCollum) last night and said, ‘I want to go at three o’clock, I want to take the Australians on this run chase’, basically (saying) ‘Let me out there’.” And when we thought about it, we actually thought (Moein) came in at number three, and he was able to influence the game more than he would be in seventh place,” said the England captain.
Although the left-handed batter had no say in the chase, he earned the plaudits of his skipper for taking the lead.
Of particular praise, Stokes commented:
“I just loved the fact that Mo is willing to put himself in these situations, that he wants to get out there and help the team in a positive way. When I took on the (captain) role, I asked for 10 more cricketers, and that little moment where Mo goes to Buzz and says, ‘I want the chance “She is all we talk about as a team.”
Incidentally, Moeen was not part of the original Ashes scheme in England but did come out of a Test retirement after receiving an SOS from Stokes following an injury to Jack Leach.
“It’s more important what’s ahead” – Stokes on Headingley win
While expressing his delight at England’s much-needed victory, Stokes admitted that the home team had a bigger task ahead of them. They need to win the next two Tests to clinch the 2023 Ashes, which is a daunting task against a very strong Australian team.
Stokes said after Headingley’s victory for England:
“We’ve crossed the line but we know the work required and what’s ahead is far more important than what’s been said, what’s been done. And it will be the same again in Manchester, albeit after another great cricket match and we’ve kept the series at 2-1. We’ll just have to stop it all.” Something starting this week but also continuing with the way we play because I said last week at Lord’s we found ourselves in a perfect position for the way we play cricket.”
The fourth Ashes 2023 test will take place at Old Trafford in Manchester from 19-23 July.
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