Mark Butcher on Moeen Ali’s Test return: It’s not like you’re bringing Michael Jordan out of retirement

Speaking on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast, Butcher was participating in a lively debate over whether England had made the right decision to bring Moeen back into the fold over selecting a player currently playing red-ball cricket. Butcher left no one wondering over which side of the fence he sat.

“I’m slightly baffled by the whole thing,” he said. “There’s a lot of hoping going on… Jack Leach is a holding bowler for Ben Stokes right? Moeen Ali has never been a holding bowler in his entire career and has not played any red-ball cricket for two years. His Ashes record is pretty bad with bat and with ball, and he has had no interest in playing long-form cricket ever since his retirement.

“It’s not like you’re bringing Michael Jordan out of retirement, is it?” He said later on in the discussion. “You’re not bringing somebody back who had a Botham’s Ashes in ’81, you’re bringing back someone who’s kind of done okay at times, and those times were a very long time ago.”

Moeen hasn’t played first-class cricket since 2021, when he played his last Test match against India. He has taken 20 wickets in 11 Test matches against Australia at an average of 64.65. He announced his retirement from Test cricket before the last Ashes series in Australia but temporarily reversed his decision last year.

In light of England’s new style of Test cricket under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, Moeen considered withdrawing his retirement for the series in Pakistan last winter, but decided against it and reconfirmed his retirement from the format in October 2022. Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed were selected as second spinners alongside Leach for that series and both took five-fors.

After Jack Leach was ruled out of the five-Test match Ashes series with a stress fracture, however, England approached Moeen to come out of retirement once more, and he is now set to make his Test return at Edgbaston on Friday (June 16).

“I wouldn’t have asked him,” continued Butcher. “I don’t blame him for saying yes, but I just wouldn’t have asked him… If I had not played long-form cricket for two years, and had been happily in retirement from the format for two years, and a week before the Ashes started, someone said do you want to play? I would’ve said no.

“He’s gone for runs in his entire Ashes career, he’s averaged what, 65 with the ball? He’s not even half-baked this time, is he? Come on, seriously?

As the other panellists on the podcast continued the debate in favour of Moeen’s return, Butcher was at one point left with his head in his hands.

“Unbelievable, listen to what you’re saying. I’d have a proper professional off-spinner, left-arm spinner, or even a leg-spinner playing over someone who doesn’t really want to play the format. I’m sorry if that sounds wild but to me, that seems perfectly reasonable.”

On who he would’ve picked rather than Moeen, Butcher pointed out the contradiction of selecting other young spinners in Pakistan but opting for Moeen ahead of them for the Ashes series. Ahmed took seven wickets on Test debut and would likely have been the preferred option over Jacks, who has bowled a limited amount for Surrey so far in their County Championship campaign, after coming back from injury in the early stages of the 2023 summer.

“We’ve had this conversation a thousand times,” said Butcher. “We’ve had two of them play in a two-spin attack of the course of the winter and both of them did alright, and both of them are playing four-day cricket.

“I hope it goes well, I honestly do. I hope it’s brilliant and that I eat every single one of those words. I’m just saying it’s a massive risk, huge. What is the point of having guys playing first-class cricket? What’s the point of giving guys debuts in subcontinental conditions? What’s the point of anybody if all you do is overlook every single one of them and pick someone who doesn’t really want to play the format?”