Australia coach Andrew McDonald has pinpointed a significant hurdle for England following their desperate call for all-rounder Moeen Ali to come out of retirement, reports DANIEL CHERNY.
The hosts desperately called the spinning all-rounder out of retirement last week to replace injured tweaker Jack Leach, the left-armer who had been a mainstay of England’s Test side in recent times.
While off-spinner Ali, 35, has 195 Test wickets to his name, he also averages 64.65 with the ball in 11 Tests against Australia.
McDonald said he anticipated things could be tricky for the home side given how accustomed England had become to Leach.
Moeen Ali has come out of retirement for the Ashes. Picture: Clive Rose/Getty Images
“(I) think there’s a challenge there,” McDonald said, when asked about Leach’s absence.
“Mo hasn’t played a red-ball game for an extended period of time, no doubt he’ll be prepared, he’s had a couple of weeks’ notice, but think Jack Leach really complemented that attack and his wicket-taking ability and the way Ben Stokes has used him has been a little more aggressive and has reaped some great rewards.
“So, yeah, it will look different with Mo there. Mo has 190-odd Test wickets as well, strengthens their lower order, so it won’t be the same but they’ll have to operate fractionally differently no doubt about that.”
On the subject of spin, McDonald said the presence of Nathan Lyon – who took 5-60 in the World Test Championship final win against India at The Oval – would be a factor in whether the Aussies bat or field first should they win tosses during the series.
“Think you consider how difficult 10 wickets will be in the fourth innings versus what happens up front,” McDonald said.
“That’s your decision point. Or is the wicket going to deteriorate, will reverse swing come into it, will spin come into. That’s the other to recognise. We’ve got an all-time great spinner in Nathan Lyon and the fourth innings is when he gets the work and conditions are in his favour. We’ve got a lot to weigh up and go through when we make that decision. Think here (The Oval) was a clear bowl-first wicket. There was enough in it. Think we played extremely well.”