How one-word text from Ben Stokes triggered chain of events that led to Moeen Ali comeback

At that stage the England all-rounder had not heard about the injury to Jack Leach, so thought that Stokes was “taking the mick” - his reply was just “LOL [laugh out loud]” before the pair had a phone conversation in which Stokes, the Test captain, confirmed that he was indeed being serious.

Asked, “Would you have done this for any other captain?” during England’s first training day before the first Test, which begins on Friday at Edgbaston, Ali replied: “Probably not, no.”

What makes Stokes so special? “He is different,” Ali said. “His mindset is very different to other captains I’ve had previously. I’m not saying they are bad captains. The way the game is going and the way they have been playing, he is the kind of guy you want to play for.”

Stokes’s recruitment drive was followed up with phone calls from Brendon McCullum, the Test head coach, and Rob Key, the managing director of England men’s cricket; that formidable trio are hard to say no to, according to Ali.

Still, it took a couple of days to confirm his return. He revealed that he had a holiday booked - which he has now had to cancel - and had to discuss the proposal with his wife, who he says was “not keen” on the idea.

“At the back end of my career, she knew I didn’t enjoy it as much,” he said. “That I was much happier with the way things were going [after retiring from Tests] and enjoying my cricket, so she took a lot of convincing.

“The last thing I would want to do was say ‘yes’ and not be in it properly. One thing I really want to make clear is that I’m going to try to give this everything I’ve got - more than I did before probably - and be a massive part of what could be a huge series. I want to be involved in this.”

Ali retired from Test cricket in 2021 after being recalled to the side to face India and being made vice-captain. At the end of that series, however, he said that he had lost his love and appetite for the format and had, in his own mind, put the red-ball game behind him.

Now 35, he is almost certainly going to be taking to the field on Friday as England’s sole spinner but he seems to be taking it all in his stride - as you would perhaps expect from a man who has taken 195 wickets and scored nearly 3,000 runs in 64 Tests since making his debut in 2014.

“I’m not an emotional guy when it comes to cricket,” he said. “I just play, enjoy it, try my best and see how we go.

“Test cricket is by far the hardest [format]. Obviously, being out of it and playing a lot of white ball, you win trophies and they mean a lot, but when you do well in Test cricket, both as an individual and as a team, it feels better than any other event that you can play.

“I was younger and sometimes, even if you’re on a half-decent day, you hate it because it is such hard work. But when you’re doing it there’s something about it that gives you a buzz. You get a good kick out of it.

“Not having played Test cricket, you do miss those hard days. It’s weird.”

Ali’s most recent first-class match was two years ago but he is not worried about being able to get through the rigours of a Test match and bowling plenty of overs.

“If I didn’t think I could get through the overs, I probably would have said no,” he said. “I feel like I have been bowling a lot in practice and over in India [at the Indian Premier League for Chennai Super Kings] I bowled quite a bit. It will be fielding that will be the hardest thing, being out there for the whole day, but you get used to it after a day and it will be fine.”

Part of Stokes’s carrot to Ali to answer their call for help was that the Stokes-McCullum philosophy would be “perfect for you and the way you play”. Ali is a “Bazball"-type player - an attacking batsman and wicket-taking bowler - and feels his strengths fit into the present way of thinking.

“As soon as Baz came in and Stokes was captain, I watched the way they played,” he said. “I was like, ‘Yeah I wish [England played like this] before’ and I think I’d probably have done much better. There are no question marks [in this set-up] over any shots you play. That gives me licence to play a few more rash shots, I guess. Even with the ball, he [Stokes] is more on the aggressive side - I know I’d go for runs, but he knows there’s also some wicket-taking deliveries in between, which is all he cares about, really.

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“I’ve never been able to hold an end up. When I have it’s because I’ve been taking wickets. That’s the only time I’ve been able to build any pressure. Ben and Baz know that. You want to take wickets all the time.

“There might be times I do need to build pressure and play what is in front of me.

“I’m sure they know what they are going to get from me - there won’t be a lot of maidens.”

Originally published as How one-word text from Ben Stokes triggered chain of events that led to Moeen Ali comeback