The coun Ty game
Performance of the month
Moeen Ali
3 for 40 and 114, Worcestershire v
Warwickshire at Edgbaston,
Royal London Cup
Has any England batsman, post-Gower,
made batting look so disconcertingly easy
as Moeen Ali? OK, well, let’s revise that
to England batsmen in England, because
in Australia he looked like he was being
worked over with a flamethrower.
But, back at Edgbaston, the ground
where Moeen came through as a
teenager, and against a white ball, all the
moving pieces clicked gloriously back
into place. Anything short he climbed
into, with that glorious flow of the bat
we see when he is on song.
Amazingly, this was Moeen’s first
one-day century for Worcestershire for
five years. He could yet prove an iconic
success at the World Cup, though if he
is going to bat at No.7 in run-chases, he
is going to have to learn to work the ball
around a bit more.
At Worcester, though, they let Moeen
open both the batting and bowling. He
took the skiddy white ball and had Ed
Pollock caught in just his second over,
then had Sam Hain reverse-sweeping.
Three for 40 was gold dust in such a
high-scoring competition.
Callum Ferguson was not exactly
in a rough trot, having laced 192 and
159 not out against Leicestershire and
Northamptonshire at Worcester in
previous games. And yet the Australian
was beaten for pace by Warwickshire’s
Olly Stone, who – if he can remain fit for
a stretch – looks to have Test potential.
One of his deliveries was clocked at
91.4mph, and was swinging the white
ball in at late 80s.
However, Moeen weathered the
Stonestorm, putting him away when he
overpitched, and stroked 114 from 75
balls. That meant that, even after a late
wobble, Worcestershire sneaked home
by one wicket in the 46th over and into
a home semi-final, eliminating their
local rivals in the process.
James Coyne Natha
N Stirk/GettyimaGeSDiary p 62 Curios & stats p 68 Big match p 70 Sussex p 72 Liam Dawson p 76 100 objects p 78 Peter Trego p 79
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