Moeen Ali said the “writing was on the wall” before the World Cup for England’s ageing team and believes it is time to move on with a new generation.
Moeen offered an honest assessment of England’s performances, saying “all good things must come to an end” for a group that won two World Cups, and were runners-up or semi-finalists in three other global tournaments since Eoin Morgan’s rebuild in 2015.
It has crashed down at this World Cup where England have lost six out of seven matches to sit bottom of the group table. They must win their last two games to finish in the top eight to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy, a tournament that Moeen believes will give vital experience at a global event for a rebuilt, younger team.
“Everything good comes to an end and maybe the writing was on the wall and we just didn’t see it as players because we thought we’d be performing well,” said Moeen. “But I just think everything good comes to an end at some point. It’s very exciting because going forward we’ve got some really good players we know will come into the squad, with that fearless playing, so that restart we had in 2015 could start again.
“I think if I was in charge I’d play the younger guys. I’d just start again and I’m sure they’re going to do that. It’s common sense more than anything. You want that fearless approach again and it’s a great time to start again.”
On his own future, Moeen accepted that, at 36, his time is probably up in this team. “I’m obviously going to speak to Jos [Buttler] and Motty [coach Matthew Mott] and see what they want from me, whether they want me around or whatever, I don’t know. If they say, ‘look we’re going to go with younger players and start again’ then I’m more than happy. I get it, I understand and like I said, everything good comes to an end at some point,” he said.
With a Twenty20 World Cup around the corner, the majority of this squad will remain involved with England in that form of white-ball cricket but in the 50-over game wholesale changes are certain.
“In 2015 [at the World Cup] we didn’t expect to do much but this one we expected to be in a better position than we are now and we’ve just been rubbish throughout – batting, bowling and fielding,” said Moeen.
Buttler may stand down as captain in 50-overs cricket given he is 33 and unlikely to make 2027 in South Africa. Of the 2019 World Cup winners – Jonny Bairstow, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, Moeen and Adil Rashid – some or all could retire or be dropped from this format. Ben Stokes is likely to retire again from 50-over cricket after this World Cup. Joe Root, who has had a poor tournament since starting well in the first two matches, is one likely to carry on given that he does not play T20.
There is major rebuilding to be done but winning the last two games here, starting with Netherlands in Pune on Wednesday and against Pakistan in Kolkata on Saturday, is one legacy this generation can leave behind for those who come next, players such as Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Rehan Ahmed and Gus Atkinson.
“We’ve got to turn up properly as players. They are two massive games coming up. I know how important the Champions Trophy is in terms of experience at a world event because then for a World Cup you get that experience, especially with potentially younger players coming in and it’s very important we as players make sure we qualify,” said Moeen, who was part of the England team that made the semi-finals of the 2017 Champions Trophy and used that as a learning curve for the World Cup they won two summers later.
“I know it was a semi-final defeat [in 2017] but it was just the experience of being there. It was disappointing that day but we knew that was in the bank for 2019. It’s so important we qualify for the Champions Trophy.”
