Post Michael Jordan-Retirement Comparison, Mark Butcher’s Mind Blown By Moeen Ali Playing Sensibly In 5th Ashes Test

Former batter Mark Butcher didn’t mince his words while taking a dig at England’s batting in the first session of the fifth Ashes 2023 Test match against Australia at The Oval today. A byproduct of Butcher’s assessment of the session resulted in him passing a hilarious comment around all-rounder Moeen Ali (34).

With England scoring 131/3 in 26 overs in the morning session, they did quite well on paper. However, it’s just that the manner in which they play in the Bazball era has it in it to always draw criticism towards them. A healthy run rate of more than 5 was found faults with primarily because of the fact that their batters offered way too many opportunities to the opposition.

English batters, particularly Harry Brook, should consider themselves fortunate for being given as many as three reprieves before the lunch interval.

Mark Butcher’s Hilarious Comment On Moeen Ali Playing Sensibly In 5th Ashes Test

In a period of play where four English batters swung their bats relentlessly without fearing the consequences of doing so against a new ball, Ali emerged as the most sensible of the lot for not attempting to play any rash shot.

Not that the others played rash shots on a repetitive basis, presenting frequent chances to the bowling team isn’t the best way to play after winning the toss and electing to bat first. Ali, meanwhile, was unconventional not only by Bazball’s standards but also his personal standards. Treating each ball on merit, the left-handed batter scored 10* (28) at Lunch, Day 1.

“Standing here and thinking that Moeen Ali has looked, by far, England’s most sensible batter just blows your mind,” Butcher said as a pundit on Sky Sports Cricket.

Ali, meanwhile, changed gears in the second session. Having scored a solitary run across his first 10 balls post lunch, Ali absolutely broke the shackles by hitting Australia captain Pat Cummins for a six over mid-wicket. Another shot which one wouldn’t associate with a traditional Test batter, a gallant Ali top-edged the first ball of Cummins’ following over for another six in spite of the presence of three boundary riders for the very same shot.

That being said, Ali eventually had to pay the price for needlessly putting on display attacking instincts. After hitting a four each in Cummins’ same and spinner Todd Murphy’s following over, the 36-year old player was eventually dismissed by the latter. Wanting to hit consecutive boundaries through the mid-wicket region, he completely missed an ordinary delivery only to get bowled.

Mark Butcher Was Against Moeen Ali’s Test Comeback From Day 1

For those who don’t know, it is not for the first time when Butcher has, intentionally or unintentionally, passed a sarcastic comment with respect to Ali in the last few weeks. Much like former England captain Michael Atherton, Butcher hadn’t disapproved of Ali returning to first-class cricket after more than 20 months during an Ashes series.

Butcher, in fact, was so against the move initiated by captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum that he had went on to chirp how England weren’t bringing legendary basketball player Michael Jordan out of retirement for him to be excited about.

“It’s not like you’re bringing Michael Jordan out of retirement, is it? You’re not bringing somebody back who had a Botham’s Ashes in ’81, you’re bringing back someone who’s kind of done okay at times, and those times were a very long time ago,” Butcher had said on Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast last month.

It was on the same platform before the fourth Test at Old Trafford that Butcher had expressed a poor opinion of Ali’s promotion to No. 3. Butcher, however, had come to terms with the ploy by taking into account how similar newfangled decisions were part of Bazball.