Ashes 2023: Mooen Ali will end his career thinking he should have batted more at No.3, says Nasser Hussain

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain reckons Moeen Ali will end his career thinking he should have batted more at number three for the team in Test matches. Ali has batted mostly batted in the lower middle order for Three Lions.

However, Hussain believes England could have better utilized Moeen Ali at one down as he has always shown the skills to be a successful batter at the top of the order.

Ali was promoted in the second innings of the third Test match at Leeds, Headingley after Harry Brook failed to deliver in the first essay. But, the left-hander also could not grab his opportunity as he was dismissed after scoring only five runs.

However, Ali asked head coach Brendon McCullum that he wants to keep batting at number three. After Ben Duckett was dismissed cheaply on the second day of the fourth Test match at Old Trafford, Manchester, Ali was able to hit the ground running. The left-hander scored 54 runs off 82 balls and added 121 runs with Zak Crawley for the second wicket.

“I think we forget what a good young batter Moeen was. Anyone watching a young Moeen growing up would say ‘this lad can bat,” Nasser Hussain said while commentating on Sky Sports.

“That is the reason he has said he wants to bat at No 3. He will end his career thinking he could have got more Test runs for the ability he has got. He wants to go out there and show the world again that he is a proper, proper batter. I think we forget that because he can frustrate,” Hussain added.

England scored 61 runs in the opening session on the second day’s play and Moeen Ali and Zak Crawley batted at their best.

Meanwhile, Moeen Ali also completed 3000 Test runs during his knock and became the fourth England player to complete the duo of 3000 runs and 200 wickets after Sir Ian Botham, Andrew Flintoff, and Stuart Broad. Ali has so far amassed 3031 runs in his Test career at an average of 28.06.