Ashes 2017: Moeen Ali preparing for Australian assault by taking on Bully the crocodile
The all-rounder is looking to make the most of his golden opportunity Down Under with Ben Stokes left behind in England
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Your support makes all the difference.Moeen Ali admits he has gone “over the top” in his preparation for the expected barrage of bouncers from Australia’s fast bowlers in front of a baying Brisbane crowd next week, so it was probably apt he warmed up for that by feeding a 5ft crocodile name Bully.
The all-rounder, who along with former captain Alastair Cook visited the Billabong Sanctuary on the outskirts of Townsville today, fed the monstrous reptile a dead chicken that, such is the Australian way, his hosts had named ‘Moeen’.
England will hope the 30-year-old’s technique against the short ball is sounder than his croc-feeding skills given his namesake was plucked from the giant rod he was holding before he could properly lower it down towards the water.
Indeed, the encounter with Bully - the 800-kilogram beast dragging Moeen across the platform he was standing on as he wrestled with the rod - probably wasn’t best advised given he has only just recovered from the side strain that ruled him out of the first two tour games.
Yet Moeen says he is fighting fit ahead of this week’s final four-day warm-up match against a Cricket Australia XI that starts on Wednesday and is relishing the challenge of taking on Mitchell Starc and company at the Gabba.
Starc, who will spearhead Australia’s attack in this upcoming Ashes series, today said he will use “aggression” to try and “blast out” England.
For Moeen that means plenty of short stuff. Yet after ramping up his training in recent days, including using a wetted tray in the nets that speeds up deliveries appreciably, he is ready.
“They’ll definitely come after me,” he said. “It’s not anything new really. I’m looking forward to it and I think they’re going to come after a few of the guys.
“It’s that sort of Test series being the Ashes and I’ve had that many times before so I’m not too worried. If anything, you get more opportunity to do something better. If they come after you with the bat you always have a chance of getting wickets. We’ll see. I’m not overconfident or down I’m just ready to play and hopefully I can have a good series definitely.”
Moeen is right to be full of confidence with both bat and ball after an English summer that saw him take 30 Test wickets at 21.30 and score 644 runs in all formats at an average of 51.78.
But he will move up one place in the order to seven to cover the absence of Ben Stokes and, having shown a vulnerability to short-pitched bowling in the past, is aware of what is to come in this series.
“I’ve been practising and I almost try and go over the top with it,” he says. “Hopefully then it’ll be a lot easier after that. I visualise who I’m going to play against but I don’t think too much about it. I’ll go out and play as I always do and use my experience.
“I’ve been doing the tray recently to exaggerate the pace with the ball coming at you - it just sharpens you up. It skims off it. I’ve been hit before loads of times but the more I’m doing it the better I’m feeling.
“It doesn’t mean you’re going to be the best player of fast bowling it just means you’re probably going to be better than you were.”
Asked if would be looking to take the short ball on come the Ashes, Moeen replied: “Sometimes. It depends on how you feel, how you’re seeing the ball. Some days I feel like I’m seeing it better. In the past, I definitely didn’t have the technique to deal with it. But that’s something I’ve been working on.”
As for filling the void left by Stokes, who is still awaiting the outcome of a police investigation into his involvement in a late-night incident in Bristol in September, Moeen is happy to take on the pressure of being England’s premier all-rounder.
“Obviously I want him out here,” he said of Stokes. “But also for myself it’s an opportunity to go up the order. My whole thing is to try and get up the order as much as I can. I want to go higher up and if I can score my runs and do well for the team I can deal with it.”
Moeen had a reasonable first series against Australia at home in 2015, taking 12 wickets and providing valuable runs down the order to help England win 3-2.
He says: “As a batter I actually didn’t do that bad in that series but I feel like I’m a much better player than I was then.”
He and his teammates will have to be if England are to retain the Ashes.
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