By Rob Barnett
Alastair Cook has announced that Moeen Ali will open the batting alongside him in tomorrow’s warm-up game with Sri Lanka A.
Moeen is preferred to Alex Hales, who partnered Cook at the top of the order in England’s last four one-day internationals.
Moeen opens the batting for Worcestershire in limited-overs cricket and did so in his first three ODIs, all versus West Indies in Antigua early this year. In his other two format matches, the left-hander has batted at seven and three.
Among those five appearances, one more than Hales, Moeen has made scores of 44, 55 and 67. That, allied to his ever-improving off-spin, sees him chosen ahead of Hales.
Here's the scene at the series launch press conference - captain and coach in attendance #SLvEngpic.twitter.com/U1pGMMcSdj
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Moeen has bowled in all his ODIs, producing a best return of 2-34 in victory over India during September.
Cook, speaking at the series-opening press conference in Colombo today, stressed that the opening combination is initially for this fixture only.
“It’s incredibly hard to even pick for this warm-up game,” he said. “We really wanted to have another bowler in that top six and Mo gives us that option.
“He bowled really well in that last game against India up at Headingley. For a guy who has improved as much as he has his bowling in particular since he’s come into international cricket, this is another challenge for him as well to open the batting.
“It’s a real tough call on Alex at the moment, but that’s nowhere near our final decision. That’s for this one game here and we see how it goes.”
Tomorrow’s 50-over-a-side warm-up at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground is the first of two against Sri Lanka A, preceding seven ODIs between Sri Lanka and England.
Head Coach Peter Moores, who also spoke at the press conference, revealed earlier today that the tourists have a fully fit squad to choose from.
Here's what the two teams are playing for #SLvEngpic.twitter.com/zOAMTvJH8b
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