Falling back to youngsters is the way out: Moeen Ali opines after ‘aged’ England exit World Cup 2023

An ageing England Team, the defending World Champions, exited the ongoing campaign following a 33-run loss against Australia in Ahmedabad. Moeen Ali, the most aged player in the star-studded side, shared his opinion on what could be the way out going forward.

Ali, who was part of the 2015 CWC campaign that turned fortunes for England cricket for good, which saw them lifting the World Cup four years later, suffered a contrasting fate this time.

Summarising their campaign, Ali put it in one line, saying, "Everything good comes to an end."

England’s 2023 title defence was in shambles despite them almost picking their best squad, barring injury exceptions. While the 36-year-old Dawid Malan was the lone centurion (against Bangladesh), the torrid form of some regular starters, including Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Captain Jos Buttler, led them to this point.

Disappointing runs from Livingstone (averaging 10 thus far in CWC 2023) and retiring David Willey added salt to injury, as England failed miserably to play as a unit and deliver even against the lower-ranked teams.

The return of Ben Stokes didn’t add any value to the side either, as earlier, he remained on the bench owing to a knee injury, while upon his return, he failed to put in match-winning performances. Against Australia, Stokes came close to replicating past heroics against Australia, hitting 64 off 90 balls.

"I just think everything good comes to an end at some point. It's very exciting because going forward we've got some really good players we know will come back into the squad with that fearless [style]. That start we had in 2015 could start again," Moeen Ali said.

What future holds for England’s ODI cricket?

Speaking in detail about his future in the ODI format, Moeen said he’d speak with the captain and the coach.

"I'm obviously going to speak to Jos and Motty and see what they want from me, whether they want me around or whatever," Moeen said. "I don't know. If they say, 'Look, we're going to go with younger players and start again' then I'm more than happy. I get it; I understand… everything good comes to an end at some point."

"If I was in charge, I'd play the younger guys. I'd just start again, and I'm sure they're going to do that. It's common sense, more than anything. You want that fearless approach again, and it's a great time to start again,” Ali added.

Meanwhile, England has two matches remaining in their CWC campaign, against the Netherlands on Wednesday and Pakistan on Saturday.

(With inputs from agencies)