72 Facts About Moeen Ali

1.

Moeen Munir Ali was born on 18 June 1987 and is an English cricketer who serves as vice-captain for England in limited overs cricket, and previously played for the Test team.

2.

Moeen Ali was part of the England teams that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup.

3.

Moeen Ali plays as an all-rounder, batting left-handed and bowling off spin.

4.

Moeen Ali is of Pakistani and English descent; his grandfather migrated to England from Mirpur, Azad Kashmir, while his grandmother, Betty Cox, was a white Briton.

5.

Moeen Ali became known fondly as 'the beard that's feared' while playing for Worcestershire.

6.

Moeen Ali's father worked as a taxi driver, and as a psychiatric nurse.

7.

Moeen Ali grew up on the same street as fellow cricketers Kabir Ali, Naqash Tahir, and Rawait Khan.

8.

Moeen Ali is a keen football fan and a lifelong supporter of Liverpool FC.

9.

Moeen Ali signed for Warwickshire aged just 15, hitting a half-century for the county's Second XI a few days before his 16th birthday.

10.

Moeen Ali was then selected for the 2006 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, which was held in Sri Lanka, and was immediately promoted to captain by coach Andy Pick.

11.

Moeen Ali made three half-centuries in the tournament, and took seven wickets.

12.

Moeen Ali received additional opportunities for his county in 2006, playing his first List A games.

13.

Moeen Ali took his first wickets in first-class cricket, and his first three victims were all Test players: Stuart Law, Dominic Cork and Dave Mohammed.

14.

Moeen Ali's opportunities were somewhat limited and Alex Loudon took his place in the side.

15.

In July 2006, with the expiry of his Warwickshire contract only months away, Moeen Ali brushed off rumours of a move to Worcestershire, saying "I don't know anything about it", but in September it was announced that Moeen Ali would indeed be leaving to join that county.

16.

Moeen Ali made his debut for Worcestershire in their ten-wicket win over Loughborough UCCE on 25 April 2007.

17.

Shakib played for Worcestershire as their overseas player in 2010 and the link with the club led to Moeen Ali representing Mohammedan Sporting Club in the Ispahani Premier Division.

18.

Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal was Worcestershire's overseas player for a short time in 2011 and while at the club he encouraged Moeen Ali to try bowling the doosra.

19.

In Worcestershire's first season back in the first division, Moeen Ali scored 930 runs in the County Championship, making him the club's second-highest run scorer in the competition behind Solanki.

20.

Moeen Ali was awarded county cricket's MVP award beating Samit Patel on the final day of the season and was named PCA player of the year.

21.

Moeen Ali was called up to the England development squad ahead of their Australian Ashes tour.

22.

In 2019 Moeen Ali was captain of a Worcester side who almost went all the way to retain their T20 blast trophy but lost to a last ball defeat to the Essex Eagles.

23.

The Rapids went on to meet the 2018 runners up, Sussex Sharks, in the quarter finals as the Rapids ran out winners, with Moeen Ali showing his international class as he dismantled the Sharks attack scoring a blistering 121 Not out as Worcestershire secured their spot at finals day 2019.

24.

Moeen Ali was included in the English Squad for the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.

25.

Moeen Ali scored 44 runs before being dismissed and took his maiden ODI wicket.

26.

Moeen Ali was again impressive in the third match, making his first half century in a score of 55.

27.

Moeen Ali ended up scoring 109 runs and picking up 3 wickets in the three match series.

28.

Moeen Ali made his T20 debut in the second match of the T20 series, although he scored just 3 runs and did not bowl.

29.

Moeen Ali managed 49 runs in 4 matches and ending up wicketless.

30.

Moeen Ali was named in the England Test squad for their series against Sri Lanka, before making his debut in the first Test.

31.

Moeen Ali made a score of 48 in the initial innings but only made 4 in the second.

32.

Moeen Ali did not play in the first three ODIs against India.

33.

Moeen Ali scored a century in the next match against Scotland, making 128 from 107 balls to help England to a score of 303.

34.

Moeen Ali took two wickets in Scotland's innings as he earned the man of the match award.

35.

Moeen Ali then took three wickets in New Zealand's innings.

36.

Moeen Ali again impressed with the bat, making 43 in England's second innings and taking a wicket in New Zealand's second innings to help England win by 124 runs.

37.

Moeen Ali was selected in the England side for the 2015 Ashes series.

38.

Moeen Ali made little impact with the bat against Pakistan in the limited overs series, scoring just 13 runs, although he was only dismissed once.

39.

Moeen Ali was named as man of the match in the first Test as England won by 241 runs.

40.

Moeen Ali made 61 with the bat but England collapsed in their second innings, with Ali making an unbeaten ten.

41.

Moeen Ali scored a crucial unbeaten 41 against Afghanistan to keep England's hopes of progressing to the semi-finals alive.

42.

However, England lost the final, with Moeen Ali being dismissed for a duck and not bowling any of his overs.

43.

Moeen Ali was included in the test squad for the series against Sri Lanka.

44.

Moeen Ali took one wicket in the match, as England won by nine wickets.

45.

Moeen Ali did not pick up a wicket in Pakistan's second innings but made an unbeaten 86 in England's second innings to help them turn the game around and secure an unlikely victory.

46.

Moeen Ali did not take a wicket in the second ODI but scored an unbeaten 21 to help England win by four wickets.

47.

Moeen Ali took one wicket in the third match of the series, which England won by 169 runs.

48.

Moeen Ali played in the first ODI against the West Indies, and made an unbeaten 31 in the first game as England won by 45 runs.

49.

Moeen Ali took his first ten-wicket haul in Tests and was the first England player since Ian Botham to score a Test half-century and take ten wickets in the same match.

50.

Moeen Ali made 75 not out in second innings of 4th Test to help England to a strong position and finished the game with a 5-wicket haul for the second consecutive match.

51.

Moeen Ali reached 25 wickets and 250 runs in the series, the only player to ever achieve the feat in a 4 Test series.

52.

Moeen Ali had a quieter Test series against West Indies, scoring 109 runs and taking 5 wickets in the three match series.

53.

Moeen Ali played with an injured spinning finger and only took 5 wickets, at an average of 115.

54.

On 21 June 2019, in the match against Sri Lanka, Moeen Ali played in his 100th ODI.

55.

Moeen Ali subsequently announced that he would be taking a "short break" from cricket.

56.

On 29 May 2020, Moeen Ali was named in a 55-man group of players to begin training ahead of international fixtures starting in England following the COVID-19 pandemic.

57.

On 17 June 2020, Moeen Ali was included in England's 30-man squad to start training behind closed doors for the Test series against the West Indies.

58.

On 9 July 2020, Moeen Ali was included in England's 24-man squad to start training behind closed doors for the ODI series against Ireland.

59.

On 8 September 2020, Moeen Ali first captained England in a T20I match against Australia in Southampton.

60.

Moeen Ali became the first Asian-origin cricketer to captain England in T20s, and the first Asian-origin cricketer to captain England in any format since Nasser Hussain in 2003.

61.

On 4 January 2021, Moeen Ali tested positive for COVID-19, prior to England's tour of Sri Lanka and he recovered.

62.

Moeen Ali won the 'man of the match' award in the second T20I against Pakistan for his all-round performance.

63.

Moeen Ali scored 92 runs and took 7 wickets in 6 matches of the World cup.

64.

Moeen Ali was announced as Vice-captain of English T20 squad for West Indies tour in 2022.

65.

Moeen Ali captained England in 3rd, 4th and 5th T20I matches due to an injury to Eoin Morgan, and after Morgan retired from international cricket in June 2022 he was appointed vice-captain to Jos Buttler in limited overs internatioanls.

66.

In January 2018 in the 2018 IPL auction, Moeen Ali was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 1.7 crores from his base price of INR 1.5 crores.

67.

Moeen Ali was part of the CSK squad that went on to win the 2021 IPL, becoming the first Englishman to do so.

68.

Moeen Ali was retained by CSK for the 2022 IPL season.

69.

Moeen Ali wore "Save Gaza" and "Free Palestine" wristbands in connection with the Gaza conflict during day 2 of the third Test match of the 2014 series against India.

70.

Moeen Ali is an Ambassador of StreetChance, a programme providing free weekly cricket coaching sessions in deprived areas in the UK, run by the Cricket Foundation and Barclays Spaces For Sports.

71.

In January 2015, Moeen Ali was nominated for the Best at Sport award at the British Muslim Awards.

72.

Moeen Ali was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to cricket.