Moeen Ali is targeting a summer Test return for England and wants to prove himself after his self-imposed break
- Moeen Ali is on a self-imposed break from Test cricket since the Ashes
- Last week, the 32-year-old resisted the chance to join the Sri Lanka tour
- But the spinner says he wants to return to the Test format this summer
Moeen Ali says he still has a strong desire to prove himself as a Test player after targeting a return to the England team this summer.
The 32-year-old is currently on a self-imposed break from international cricket’s traditional format stretching back to the Ashes five months ago and last week resisted the chance to tour Sri Lanka in March to fulfil his commitments in the Pakistan Super League.
But, the man whose assault of 39 from 11 balls earned the man of the match award in Friday night’s two-win run over South Africa and set up today’s Twenty20 series decider at Centurion, said: ‘Yes, I’m looking to target this summer, for sure.
Moeen Ali says he still has a strong desire to prove himself as a Test player after his break
‘I want to give myself a bit more time, go enjoy some T20 leagues. There is a T20 World Cup coming up and I want to give myself as much experience as I can. I’ve not actually played that much T20 international cricket.
‘I have targets I want to hit still, especially in Test cricket. So I’ll have a decent amount of T20 cricket in Pakistan and the IPL and then there’s the 100-ball and that sort of stuff.
‘But Test cricket is still the best form of the game and the hardest, and I want to make sure when I come back I’m ready. To prove to myself and to other people that I am not a bad Test player.’
The 32-year-old was awarded man of the match against South Africa for scoring 39 off 11 balls
England used Twenty20s to rest their multi-format players on their run to becoming one-day world champions last July.
Now the trend has flipped, with the focus on drilling the best XI for a tilt at becoming the first country to unite both limited-overs crowns.
‘That’s what we’re gunning for. There are players who have won the Ashes and won the 50-over World Cup and this is our target for sure,’ Moeen said.
‘We were so close in India in 2016 and that still hurts us as a team. You look back and think we could have won that one, but hopefully we’ll win the next one.’