England veteran Moeen Ali received an honorary OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his services to cricket. The player and acknowledged the honour is a reflection of his status as a role model among the British Asian community.
“It’s obviously an honour and the more you think about it, the more you realise how nice it is and how rewarding it is. More than anything, I know it makes my parents happy and that’s the most important thing. It’s amazing and my family are really proud and happy,”
Moeen said, as per the Guardian.
The 34-year-old, who retired from Test cricket in September 2021, has represented his country in 64 Tests. He has 195 wickets with the ball and 2914 runs with the bat at 28.29, including five hundreds.
Ali remains a key part of their white-ball set-up, having been part of the World Cup triumph in 2019. He was the stand-in skipper of the side in England’s series in the Caribbean earlier this year.
Moeen revealed that he had a conversation with the new England head coach Brendon McCullum and hinted at a possibility of a Test return. The all-rounder has worked with the New Zealander in the Indian Premier League and enjoys his work.
“Baz [McCullum] messaged me asking if I was ‘in’. I have played with him in the IPL and really enjoyed the way he works. We spoke and he mentioned potentially, in the future, if there is a tour – or whenever – would I be available? I said ‘call me at the time’. We’ll see, the door is open,”
he added.
Moeen, however, was considerate towards Jack Leach, England’s first-choice spinner. He said that he backs the left-arm spinner and doesn’t want to put any additional pressure. Moeen also refuted the rumours of him not enjoying Joe Root’s captaincy being the reason for retirement, saying he had injury struggles and wasn’t enjoying the game at the time.
