England in UAE: Alastair Cook says Moeen Ali could open batting
Left-hander could be "short-term" appointment
Friday 2 October 2015 12:39, UK
Alastair Cook told Sky Sports News HQ that Moeen Ali could open the batting for England against Pakistan in the UAE.
England are looking for a new ally for Cook after dropping Adam Lyth following the Yorkshireman's toils in the Ashes where he scored just 115 runs across the five Tests at an average of 12.77
Moeen - England's No 8 against Australia - and Alex Hales seem the most likely candidates to accompany Cook, who has had six opening partners since Andrew Strauss retired in 2012.
And the captain says consideration has been given to promoting Moeen in the Emirates, even if the left-hander subsequently drops down the order for this winter's Tests in South Africa.
"It might be a short-term option and that Mo opens in this series but not in South Africa," said Cook, England's leading Test-match run scorer of all time.
"But Alex could always take his chance in a warm-up game and we go that way, so we do have options."
Reflecting on England's difficulty in replacing Strauss - something they have tried to do with Nick Compton, Joe Root, Michael Carberry, Sam Robson and Jonathan Trott as well as Lyth - Cook said: "No-one has quite nailed the opportunity - they all did okay without really grabbing it.
"It's a big step from county cricket to international cricket and opening the batting you are playing against the best bowlers with the new ball.
"Root could have solved it but he was doing so well in the middle order that it seemed wrong to change it. So it is a little bit frustrating but there is a chance for whoever gets it next."
England will head to the UAE in confident mood having regained The Ashes with a 3-2 success over Australia during the summer.
However, Cook's side - then under the stewardship of Strauss - were beaten 3-0 by Pakistan in 2012, while Misbah-ul-Haq's men are yet to lose a Test series in the Emirates.
Cook, though, insists England's "balanced" squad have a real chance of winning the three-Test series and he expects leg-spinner Adil Rashid, as-yet uncapped at Test level, to play a fundamental role.
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"There is no rest and the guys have to park the Ashes and start looking forward at how we are going to win in the UAE," added the 30-year-old.
"We have a balanced squad so we could play two spinners - something you pretty much have to do on flat wickets - and four seamers.
"You could even play three spinners in these conditions, so the guys have to be flexible - it may be a different side to what we play in South Africa but that's what you need to do to win away.
"We have a lot of bowling options on flat wickets and having seen Adil grow in front of our eyes in one-day cricket over the last six months we know he is good enough for Test cricket."
England's tour of the UAE to play Pakistan is live on Sky Sports, starting with the opening Test, in Abu Dhabi, on Tuesday, October 13.
