Moeen Ali

Moeen Ali spent a decade as England's problem-solver, a player who could be pushed up the order with the bat or asked to tie down an end with his off-spin. He batted everywhere from opener to No.9 in Tests, and in white-ball cricket his clean, easy swing of the bat made him one of the most dangerous finishers in the side. His bowling rarely earned the credit it deserved, yet he finished with nearly 200 Test wickets, more than any England off-spinner of his generation.

Born in Birmingham to a family of Pakistani and Kashmiri heritage, Moeen made his Test debut in 2014 and scored a defiant maiden hundred against Sri Lanka that summer, before taking 19 wickets in the home series against India. His peak with the ball came in 2017, when he claimed 25 wickets against South Africa, including a hat-trick at The Oval and a match at Lord's where he scored 87 and took ten wickets. As a batter he could be guilty of throwing away good starts, but the highlights were worth the wait.

His later career was defined by reinvention. Coaxed out of Test retirement for the 2023 Ashes, he was also part of England's World Cup-winning squads in 2019 and 2022. A visible and respected Muslim sportsman, he was awarded an OBE, and after retiring from international cricket in 2024 he has carried on in franchise leagues and at county level for Warwickshire.