Moeen Ali’s Test career is on hold after he asked England for an indefinite break from the format but remains available to play one-day cricket. Eoin Morgan, meanwhile, will continue as captain of the new one-day world champions, Ashley Giles, the director of cricket, confirmed on Friday (Sep 20), reports said.
Moeen Ali will miss England's two Tests in New Zealand in November, and may also be omitted from the red-ball leg of the South Africa tour in December and January, after requesting a break from Test cricket in the wake of a gruelling English season.
The news came as Moeen was omitted from England's list of centrally contracted Test players for the 12 months to September 2020, which was announced on Friday at Lord's by England's director of cricket, Ashley Giles.
Although he retains his white-ball contract, and will be a central part of England's plans for the World T20 in Australia next year, this was the first time since 2014-15, the year of his England debut, that Moeen had been overlooked for the top tier of ECB contracts - a run that reflects the amount of international cricket, 186 matches in all formats, that he had been playing in the preceding five years.
"It's just to get away from it a little bit. I feel like I want to enjoy my batting and this will give me a bit of a break," Moeen told ESPNcricinfo on the eve of T20 Finals Day at Edgbaston, where he is hoping to captain Worcestershire to back-to-back titles in the Vitality Blast.
"I want to spend some time with the family. I've been playing for England for five years and it's been quite tough. The intensity is obviously higher in Test cricket so this is just to give me a break and then we will see what happens after that.
"I'm not ruling out playing Test cricket in the future. I've had long chats and thought about it quite a lot. I just want to give myself a bit of time to refresh my batteries and see where it goes after that."
Speaking at Lord's, Giles was equally keen to stress that Moeen's decision did not spell the end of his 60-Test career - a period in which he has claimed 181 wickets, second only to Graeme Swann among English spinners this century.
However, Giles did indicate that Test retirement had been discussed during their conversations, as Moeen came to terms with a disappointing summer in which he was dropped after England's defeat in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston, having already lost his starting berth in the World Cup-winning team.
"For all the guys, not just Moeen, it's been a really challenging summer," Giles said. "A World Cup and an Ashes back-to-back has had a massive effect on many of these guys psychologically, as much as physically. And some of those guys are still carrying [those issues], one of them being Moeen.
"His experience in the first [Ashes] Test wasn't a great one, but that's cricket. He's has been a great servant for his team. And that's why I encouraged him to leave that option open to come back. He might just need to go away and freshen up. But he's been a really good servant for this team. And he's still relatively young."
England are due to tour Sri Lanka for two Tests in March and April, a country where Moeen last year claimed 18 wickets at 24.50 as part of a successful three-spinner attack, and that could, in theory, be an obvious time for him to return to the fray.
