Explained: When can Moeen Ali come in to bat for England in the third innings, following his groin injury?
Ashes 2023: Moeen Ali won’t be able to take up his usual position of No.3 if England lose an early wicket on day three at the Kia Oval due to injury, but when will he be able to bat?
Moeen injured his groin while batting on day one of the final Ashes Test, and while he did not retire hurt, instead counter-attacking to good effect, he did not take the field at any point during England’s bowling innings.
The injury is not an external one, meaning that Moeen will incur penalty time while he is off the field. He will not be able to bat until the penalty time incurred is equal to the length of England’s innings.
However, there are some caveats. First, penalty time is capped at 120 minutes, meaning that, from Lunch onwards tomorrow, Moeen will be free to bat at any position. Also, if England lose five wickets, he is free to bat at any point.
Should one of Zak Crawley or Ben Duckett fall early, England will be faced with a familiar dilemma of figuring out who should come in to bat at No.3.
Harry Brook filled the role for one innings earlier this series, but has made three consecutive half-centuries after being pushed back down to No.5. Joe Root has filled the role in the past, but has made clear his preference for batting at No.4. Ben Stokes is considered by some to have the technical acumen at first-drop, but he has excelled batting with the tail this series.
One out of the box option is Chris Woakes, for whom a promotion would have similar logic to the original move to push up Moeen. It would allow the rest of England’s batting line-up to stay in their preferred positions, with Woakes’ all-round credentials meaning he could be a success at short notice. He has batted at No.3 once for England, in the 2019 Cricket World Cup after Jason Roy injured his groin against West Indies. Woakes made 40 and England went on to win.
It is not yet clear if Moeen will be able to take the field in the fourth innings of the game, but his continued absence makes such a possibility increasingly unlikely.
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