England all-rounder Moeen Ali has confirmed his retirement from international cricket at age 37.

The Birmingham-born left-handed batter and right-arm spinner played in 68 Tests, 138 One-Day Internationals and 92 Twenty20 Internationals for England. He started his international career in 2014 and his last international appearance was in June this year. He scored 6,678 runs and got 366 wickets.

“I’m 37 years old and didn’t get picked for this month’s Australia series,” Ali said. “I’ve played a lot of cricket for England. It’s time for the next generation, which was also explained to me. . . . I’ve done my part.”

He won the 2019 Cricket World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup with the senior men’s side.

Moeen last played for England in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. He believed that the time was right for him after understanding that he was no longer in consideration for the side’s future assignments.

He ended the last Ashes having become just the 16th Test player to complete 3,000 runs and 200 wickets.

Moeen Munir Ali was born on June 18, 1987, in Birmingham. He is of Pakistani descent and belongs to the Mirpuri community. His grandfather migrated to England.

He had retired from Test cricket at the end of the 2021 and had not played a red-ball game in almost two years. But the allrounder was lured out of his retirement by captain Ben Stokes following a back injury suffered by fellow spinner Jack Leach. He went on to play a huge role as Brendon McCullum’s only spin specialist.

In his Test career, he scored 3094 runs at an average of 28.12 with five centuries and 15 fifties. His highest Test score was 155 not out against Sri Lanka in 2016. Moeen took 204 wickets at an average of 36.66 with the best bowling figures of 6-53 and a match haul of 10-112.

Moeen made his ODI debut against West Indies in February 2014, and scored his first fifty in the third ODI.

Former Pakistan spinner Saqlain Mushtaq shared his admiration for Moeen. He took to social media to express his experience working with Moeen, calling him a dedicated and hardworking player. “Moeen Ali has been a stalwart player for a number of years, a fully committed and hard working individual. It was a pleasure working with him. Wish Moeen a happy and prosperous future. Have a wonderful retirement. Stay blessed,” Saqlain worte on social media.

Moeen made an impressive start with the bat by scoring 48 runs in his first Test innings and took the important wicket of Kumar Sangakkara.

During the second Test, Moeen’s patient 108 not out almost saved England.

Moeen hit eight sixes in a Test match against India in 2014, setting a new record for the most sixes by an England player in a Test match.

In 2016, Moeen became only the third English player to score four centuries in a calendar year.

In 2017, Moeen became the fifth-fastest player in terms of matches played to reach 2,000 runs and 100 wickets.

He took a hat-trick against South Africa at The Oval in 2017 which sealed the series victory.

His best in Tests came against South Africa at home when he took 25 wickets and scored 261 runs in four Tests. He received the Player-of-the-Series award.

Only two spinners - Derek Underwood (297) and Graeme Swann (255) - have more Test wickets for England than Moeen.

In the white ball game, he scored 2355 runs at an average of 24.27 with three centuries and six fifties. In ODIs, he took 111 wickets averaging 47.84 with his best figures being 4-46.

In T20Is, he scored 1229 runs with a strike rate of 142.41 with seven half-centuries. In the shortest format, he took 51 wickets at an average of 27.13.

In December 2019, he was drafted by Multan Sultans for Pakistan Super League (PSL) as their Platinum Category pick.

Moeen played county cricket for Warwickshire before moving to Worcestershire after the 2006 season. He enjoyed a successful stint at Warwickshire and won the NBC Dennis Compton Award in 2004 and 2005.

He had the most fantastic championship season in 2013, in which he scored 1,375 runs in 17 first-class games including four hundreds and eight half-centuries. He also showed his bowling skills with 31 wickets. With the all-round performance, he received the Professional Cricketers Association’s player of the year award.

During the home series against India, Moeen demolished the Indian batting with 19 wickets. In the series, Moeen remained the second-highest wicket-taker for England.

Moeen led England in a T20I match against Australia in Southampton on September 8, 2020, becoming the first Asian-origin cricketer to captain England in any format since Nasser Hussain in 2003.

Moeen was influential with both bat and ball throughout his career for the English team. He was always willing to take responsibility as a senior player within the team by pushing himself up to number three in the batting order.

Moeen Ali was also named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2015, a prestigious annual award given by the cricketing almanack, Wisden.

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