Moeen Ali was England’s stand-in captain on Tuesday night against Australia – and deservedly so, writes Taha Hashim.

Expect the unexpected when it comes to Moeen Ali. He’s the debonair left-hander who has spent more than half his Test career batting outside the top six. He’s the offie who learnt on the job to become England’s fourth-most prolific spinner in Test cricket. And now, in a summer in which there have been plenty of single-figure scores and just the one international wicket, he’s an official England captain.

Yes, he’d technically led before in an Ashes warm-up, and this was a one-off, in a dead rubber (unless you’re a rankings die-hard). But it wasn’t expected just a few months ago. In June, forced by his success with Worcestershire, I pressed Moeen on the subject of captaincy in an interview for Wisden Cricket Monthly. In 2018 he led the county to their first-ever T20 Blast title, and in 2019 he was the helm once more as they narrowly finished runners-up.

But more than the results, it was about the way it brought the best out of him, his batting sparkling at the top of the order, his bowling leading to 22 wickets across two seasons at an average of 19.95. Having admitted to loving the role at Worcestershire, had leading England ever crossed his mind?

“I know it’s probably not going to happen so there’s not much point thinking too much about it,” he replied in typically understated fashion. “I guess people that play for a while, it crosses their mind at some stage, and it’s a reality, but it’s not something I’ve really thought too much about.”

On Tuesday, with Eoin Morgan injured and Jos Buttler absent, it was time to think about it, and the self-effacing demeanour shone through once more before play had even begun. “I don’t think I’ll be as good as [Morgan]” was his take to Sky.

So how did he go? He appeared unruffled – as he usually does – even as Australia broke loose at the start of their chase of 146. As his good friend Adil Rashid began to thrive, he took a punt on Joe Denly’s leg-spin, which very nearly brought about the loss of Mitchell Marsh, with first slip unable to hold on to the edge. It was a neat summary of proceedings: what Moeen couldn’t do was cure the ills of England’s fielding display, with countless drops and misfields making Australia deserved winners on the day.

That he didn’t thrust himself into the game more feels a shame. There was a small bump up to No.5 in the batting line-up, but perhaps he could have come in even earlier to tuck into Australia’s spinners. Perhaps he could’ve bowled more than just the one over. Perhaps it’s would’ve just been nice to see him take on the Worcestershire all-action hero role for England.

Nonetheless, captaincy always goes beyond the boundary. In addition to leading his side to white-ball domination, Morgan has been a fine ambassador for English cricket, unafraid to talk up the importance of diversity in a side which won a World Cup for England, but has roots from different parts of the world. In the aforementioned interview with WCM, Moeen also explained that the environment in the England dressing room “changes people and moulds them into being a nice person”. It’s hard not to envisage the socially and politically aware Moeen – who lamented the “hate in the world” when speaking to the Guardian last year – being a driving force behind that.

He carries his faith with an endless amount of grace and is a British Asian role model. When he made his England breakthrough he talked about his pride in being both Muslim and British, reminding many that those two things are not antithetical. His background is different to most of his contemporaries, and that is to be celebrated, particularly in light of recent events.

In his post-match press conference on Tuesday, he was asked about Azeem Rafiq, the ex-Yorkshire off-spinner, who last week claimed that racism at the club nearly drove him to suicide. “If someone has felt like that then I am sure counties can work with players and try and get better at that,” said Moeen. “Personally, I’ve never experienced anything like that but if somebody has, you speak to the guy, like Carbs’ situation, and you work with him and try and improve that.

“It is not a dig at Yorkshire, because every county can, even if you think you’re good at it, still learn more about other cultures and work with players going forward.”

The England captaincy has shown up at the strangest of times. Moeen began the summer in the hopes of making a Test comeback, but they were dashed pretty quickly when he bowled expensively in an intrasquad warm-up match ahead of the West Indies series. He then looked horrendously out of nick before a quite glorious 61 was unfurled against Pakistan, reminding everyone just how good he can be, even if the consistency has never quite been there.

“I feel like I am playing OK at the moment,” added Moeen after play on Tuesday. “I am pretty happy with the way I am playing. Without setting the world alight I feel like I’ve contributed decently enough and I do feel my confidence getting up there more and more. Slowly but surely I feel like I am getting more confident. Morgs gives me a lot of confidence. Even just to consider me as captain has given me a lot of confidence.”

While that confidence builds up ahead of three ODIs against Australia, there should also be enormous pride. While Moeen’s ascension to skipper was unexpected, it was also fully deserved.