Moeen Ali has no 悔いるs about answering Ben Stokes' Ashes SOS... but England all-rounder says he won't 小旅行する India (probably!)

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If a moment in this Ashes summer encapsulates what Moeen Ali is all about, it （機の）カム in his 121-run 共同 with Zak Crawley at Old Trafford, when Moeen, batting at No 3, 粉砕するd Pat Cummins for four.

'He 攻撃する，衝突する a cover 運動 and said, '発射 of the day, that',' 関係のある Crawley afterwards. 'It was the 発射 of the day ― it was unbelievable.'

The タイミング of the 発射 followed by the タイミング of the comment summed up Moeen. 確信して yet unflustered. Serious but there to have fun. After all, he replied to Ben Stokes's message 説 'Ashes?' about a possible 実験（する） 解任する with 'LOL'.

Maybe it was Moeen's calmness at the other end that 許すd Crawley to 繁栄する on his way to the highest 得点する／非難する／２０ by an England 乱打する in a home Ashes 実験（する） for 26 years.

Crawley 追加するd: 'He's just trying to create a relaxed 環境 out there and he does that, so I enjoy batting with him.'

Moeen Ali 逆転するd his 決定／判定勝ち（する） to retire last summer after seeing Bazball in 十分な flow

The England all-rounder 攻撃する，衝突するs out on his way to 54 in the fourth Ashes 実験（する） at Old Trafford

So what did Moeen think of Crawley's 189? 'That's one of the best innings I've seen,' he tells Mail Sport in his first interview of the summer. '特に against that pace attack, he was 残虐な.

'He made it look 平易な and made the most of his luck and that's the 調印する of a 最高の，を越す player. We played our best cricket at Old Trafford, so it's a shame it wasn't meant to be (that we won) but the 動機づけ is there to level the series. The way we've played, we don't deserve to lose.'

Was there any sense of 悔いる after Manchester? Not really, 主張するs th e two-time World Cup 勝利者.

'Stokesy said afterwards that it's not all about winning,' 明らかにする／漏らすs Moeen. 'It's about the 遺産／遺物 we want to leave as a team, for the next 世代 to want to play 実験（する） cricket. And I 完全に agree. Yes, we're trying to 勝利，勝つ ― just look at how 支配的な we were in Manchester ― but the bigger picture is 大規模な.

'We've only got ourselves to 非難する, really (for 存在 2-1 負かす／撃墜する). We've 行方不明になるd too many chances and Edgbaston was a game we should have won. But Australia are the No 1 team in the world for a 推論する／理由 and we've taken them all the way.'

Moeen is speaking the day after England's chances of winning the Ashes were washed away by the rain. He is spending some time with his family, and seeing his dad Munir, who has just returned from a trip to Pakistan. Now he has 再結合させるd the England squad in London, ahead of the final 実験（する） starting tomorrow.

The 36-year-old 収容する／認めるs losing the series 完全な would be '堅い to take' and 'not a fair reflection' of the way the cricket has gone this summer ― one Moeen thought he would be spending in the commentary box before spinner Jack Leach's 傷害 changed everything.

When Moeen retired from 実験（する）s two years ago, he said the time felt 権利. He had batted in every position from one to nine, doing all the team had asked of him. He 逆転するd his 決定／判定勝ち（する） to retire last summer after seeing Bazball in 十分な flow, then called it やめるs again in October, 明言する／公表するing that 実験（する） cricket was 'hard work'. Mentally, it had taken its （死傷者）数.

So, why did he answer the call of Brendon McCullum and Stokes last month, にもかかわらず his wife's best 成果／努力s to talk him out of it?

'The fact that it was the Ashes made the 決定／判定勝ち（する） for me. Any other series, 絶対 no chance,' says Moeen. 'Mentally, I've been 罰金 because it's such a 冷気／寒がらせるd-out dressin g room, but 肉体的に it's 適切に 押し進めるd me.'

And it has been punishing. A blister on his spinning finger at Edgbaston 脅すd to 廃虚 the story. Across 103 overs of bowling in the three 実験（する）s he has played, Moeen has taken six wickets at an 普通の／平均（する） of 64.5. And with the bat, one half-century in five innings. Hardly みごたえのある 人物／姿／数字s, yet it has all felt so different.

'Honestly, it's unlike any other 実験（する） 味方する I've been 伴う／関わるd in,' says Moeen. 'It's so relaxed. I feel like I can play my natural game and not worry about what others will say. Baz is wicked and Stokesy just gets it. They know what it takes to get the best out of cricketers and you've seen what they've done over the past year.

'This is just the start for them. For me, the most impressive thing was that even when we went 2-0 負かす／撃墜する, nothing changed. That's the 肉親，親類d of 状況／情勢 that can really 実験（する） 味方するs. But nothing changed. It was the same vibe and, if anything, we were even more relaxed before Headingley.'

It was in 物陰／風下d, on the third evening, that Moeen told McCullum and Stokes that he 手配中の，お尋ね者 to bat at No 3 in the run chase.

'When Popey (Ollie ローマ法王) got 負傷させるd, I thought they'd be thinking about it anyway, so I put my han d up because I love batting higher up. It made sense. From the moment I saw Brooky (Harry Brook) in Pakistan, he was a gun player and he can do proper 損失 from five, so it would 解放する／自由な him up, too.'

Moeen's 昇進／宣伝 at Headingley failed, as he was bowled for five by Mitchell Starc, but the sacrifice did not because Brook's 75 all but saw England home. When England stuck with Moeen at No 3 at Old Trafford, his first-half century in England whites since 2019 helped his 味方する into a 命令（する）ing position.

On what he 述べるs as one of his best days in cricket, he joined a special club 含むing Ian Botham, Andrew Flintoff and Stuart 幅の広い, becoming just the 16th man of all time and the fourth Englishman to 得点する／非難する／２０ 3,000 runs and take 200 wickets in 実験（する） cricket.

'Dad was over the moon,' Moeen says. 'Alhamdulillah (賞賛する be to God) ― I'm really pleased. I've never been a numbers guy but it's nice. It's reward for all the work I've put in over the years.'

Moeen 堅固に believes all things happen for a 推論する／理由, be it the Ashes SOS call or the honey gel sent to him by an NHS 労働者 after the Edgbaston 実験（する） that helped to cure his sore finger. But is there still a sense of what could have been if the Bazball 時代 had come along earlier in his career?

'A hundred per cent,' he says. 'If the 環境 was like this before, I know for sure that it could only have been a good thing, having that 支援. This is the perfect 環境 for me, where I know I can play how I want. It's just been so much fun and I'm glad I （機の）カム 支援する.

Moeen enjoyed his time with England captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum

'I've?loved it all from the bucket hats to the buzz in the field to playing football and playing cards with the boys during those rain 延期するs at Old Trafford. Crawley and Ducky (Ben Duckett) are a good laugh.'

So what about the trip to India next year, with all his other かかわり合いs? July was meant to be a month off with his family.?

He will lead Birmingham 不死鳥／絶品 in the Hundred next month, before England white-ball かかわり合いs 含むing the World Cup. And the 実験（する） 小旅行する to India 衝突／不一致s with the SA20, for which Moeen has 調印するd a を取り引きする the Joburg 最高の Kings.

'No chance I'll do India,' he says. 'I can't see it happening.' So this week Moeen will play, in all 見込み, his last 実験（する）.

In typically Moeen fashion, though, he does not want it to be a 別れの（言葉，会）, 主張するing that 'things can change whenever'. He has never been one to look too far ahead, but one thing is 確かな : an England squad in India would be all the stronger with Moeen Ali in it.