This was always going to be a difficult tour for Moeen Ali, and in many ways his struggles have encapsulated one of the problems faced by English cricket at the moment: strong at home, fragile away.
Moeen is a confidence player, especially with the ball. When he starts well, as he did against India in 2014 and South Africa last summer, he thrives. But when lots is expected of him, he becomes uncertain. The fact that he sent down only six overs on the first day at the MCG suggested the lack of confidence in his bowling has spread to Joe Root.
He essentially sees himself as a batsman who has been forced into bowling off-spin by England, which is why Trevor Bayliss tried some mind games last summer and called him the team’s second spinner. It sounded ludicrous, because he was clearly a better option than Liam Dawson. But you could see why Bayliss said what he said.
Moeen Ali has struggled for form and confidence as an England bowler during this Ashes tour
Ali (bottom right) only bowled six overs for England during the first day of the fourth Test
Moeen’s problem is that he is learning his job on the international circuit. He’ s fine with Plan A, which almost always happens in England: he comes on after the big four seamers – Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes – and regards any wickets he does take as a bonus. In that respect, and when you throw in his quick runs, he is the perfect cricketer in English conditions.
It’s when a Plan B is needed that he is less certain. Think of the subcontinent last winter, when Moeen was up against Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, and was suddenly expected to think outside the box – either trying to get the ball up and down to find some dip, as Nathan Lyon does so well, or to vary his pace. That’s when his lack of experience counts against him.
I don’t agree with any of the criticism Moeen has attracted. He’s been such an important cricketer for the English game over the past few years, both on and off the field, and at times he’s done brilliantly.
For me, the point is that our constant reliance on him in overseas conditions is a damning indictment on English cricket. We have all these resources in place, yet the best slow bowler we can come up with is a guy who doesn’t even regard himself as a frontline spinner.
Think back a year. England went to Bangladesh and India with Gareth Batty, who was almost 40, and Zafar Ansari, who has since retired from the game. The selectors were basically guessing and hoping.
And because it seems Joe Root doesn’t have faith in Adil Rashid’s capacity to improve, England have moved on to Mason Crane in the leg-spin department. But if you’re not going to pick Crane on a dry drop-in wicket at Melbourne when Moeen is clearly struggling for form, when are you going to pick him?
He has been outshone by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon as England try to stop a whitewash
Mason Crane is seen as England’s next spinning hope but he was overlooked for the fourth Test
The problem England have is that as soon as the home season begins again, they’ ll simply pick Moeen, and allow him to revert to his role as the guy who comes on after the seamers have had a go. They’re not going to risk Crane in two big series against Pakistan and India.
Yes, there’s an argument that if you don’t give Crane a go out in Australia you’ ll never find out if he’s good enough to play Test cricket – and don’t forget that England will play on turning pitches in Sri Lanka in a year’s time.
But I’m always suspicious of using Test matches to see if a bloke’s good enough. Remember Sydney four years ago, when Scott Borthwick and Boyd Rankin played their one and only Test? What did we honestly learn from that?
The other option is to look at the guys who are taking wickets on what is pretty well the only regularly spinning track in county cricket: Taunton. Could England have picked Jack Leach for the Ashes? After Moeen had such a good summer, it would have been a big call.
There is no magic solution. England are excellent at home and poor away, and Moeen embodies that dilemma. But to blame him for the failures of the system is ridiculous.
A firing Ali means England tend to perform well – but that home form needs to be away too