Moeen Ali retires from international cricket

England all-rounder Moeen Ali has announced his retirement from international cricket. 

"I'm 37 years old and didn't get picked for this month's Australia series," Moeen stated in a Daily Mail interview. "I've played a lot of cricket for England. It's time for the next generation, which was also explained to me. It felt like the time was right. I've done my part."

After an international debut in 2014, Ali played 68 tests, 138 ODIs and 92 T20Is as an all-rounder. He ends his career with 6678 runs, 8 centuries, 28 fifties and 366 wickets under his belt for the Three Lions across the three formats. His last international appearance came against India in the World T20 League semi-final in Guyana. 

"I'm very proud. When you first play for England, you don't know how many games you're going to play. So to play nearly 300…My first few years were all about Test cricket. Once Morgs [Eoin Morgan] took over the one-day stuff, that was more fun. But Test cricket was the proper cricket.

"Even now, I've tried to be realistic. I could hold on and try to play for England again, but I know in reality I won't. Even retiring, I don't feel it's because I'm not good enough - I still feel I can play. But I get how things are, and the team needs to evolve into another cycle. It's about being real to myself."

"People forget the impact you make in games. It might only have been 20 or 30, but it was a crucial 20 or 30. For me, it was about making an impact. I know what I brought to the side, on and off the field. As long as I felt people enjoyed watching me play, whether or not I did well, I was happy with that."

Moeen will be seen in action in franchise cricket and hopes to continue as a coach moving forward. 

"A bit of franchise cricket, because I still love playing. But coaching is something I want to do - I want to be one of the best. I can learn a lot from Baz [Brendon McCullum]. I hope people remember me as a free spirit. I played some nice shots and some bad shots, but hopefully, people enjoyed watching me."

Moeen is currently set to play his first Caribbean T20 League season in the West Indies, having signed up as a replacement player for reigning champions Guyana. In the last 12 months, Ali has actively partaken in franchise cricket. He represented Chennai in the Indian T20 League, Johannesburg in the SA T20 League and Comilla in the Bangladesh T20 League. 

When asked about the greatest moment, the decorated all-rounder said - "Winning the Ashes and two World Series was great, but from an individual point of view it was my Test hat-trick against South Africa at the Oval to win us the game. And I'm proud to have the fastest T20 50 for England [16 balls vs South Africa in 2022]."