“Playing for England were the best days of my life” – Moeen Ali announces retirement from international cricket

England spin-bowling all-rounder Moeen Ali has decided to hang his boots from international cricket. Ali said playing for England were the best days of his life. The left-handed batter made the announcement after he was not picked for the home series against arch-rivals Australia.

Ali feels he has done his part and it is now time for him to pass on the baton to the next generation of promising players. Meanwhile, the 37-year-old veteran had earlier announced his Test retirement back in 2021 but reversed it back for the 2023 Ashes against Australia.

“I’ve played a lot of cricket for England. It just felt the time was right. I’ve done my part. Playing for England were the best days of my life,” Ali said while talking to Daily Mail. 

“I could hold on and try to play for England again, but I know in reality I won’t. Even retiring, I don’t feel it’s because I’m not good enough – I still feel I can play. But I get how things are, and the team needs to evolve into another cycle.”

Ali had been a consistent performer for the Three Lions across all formats and he would be happy to go on a high.

The all-rounder revealed he would be interested in coaching stints in the second innings of his career.

“A bit of franchise cricket, because I still love playing. But coaching is something I want to do — I want to be one of the best. I can learn a lot from Baz. I hope people remember me as a free spirit. I played some nice shots and some bad shots, but hopefully people enjoyed watching me,” Ali said in the aforementioned interview.

Ali made his debut in 2014 on the tour of the West Indies. He represented England in 138 ODIs, 92 T20Is, 68 Test matches. Overall, he scored 6678 runs, including eight centuries and 28 fifties, and 366 wickets for England across the three formats.