Moeen Ali to part ways with Worcestershire after 16 years of association

Veteran England all-rounder Moeen Ali will part ways with English county club Worcestershire as his contract ends at the end of the summer, the club confirmed on July 6, Wednesday. Ali joined Worcester in September 2006 from Warwickshire and appeared in close to 350 matches across all formats for the club.

Ali, as of now, has over 13,000 runs and over 300 wickets for Worcestershire, winning three trophies with the team. Worcestershire said that Ali will always be remembered as an inspirational leader who has played an “enormous” part in the club. Ali, on the other hand, said that he loved every minute with Worcestershire and was sad to part ways with the club.

“England commitments, and the Covid pandemic, meant his availability was heavily limited for the Pears over the past three years,” said Worcestershire in their statement. “Moeen will always be remembered as an inspirational leader who has played an enormous part in the club over his 16 years at New Road,” read the statement further. 

I now feel it’s time to go back to Birmingham: Moeen Ali

“I’m sad to be leaving Worcestershire after so long and have loved every minute of it, said I’ve played with some amazing people and owe a huge thanks to the Club for bringing me here and giving me the platform to perform. I now feel it’s time to go back to Birmingham for the back end of my career, but I will always love Worcestershire. I hope I made the fans proud,” said Ali.

Head coach Alex Gidman said that it was an absolute pleasure working alongside the England all-rounder in a coach-captain relationship for the last four years. He recalled the T20 Blast victory in 2018 and their campaign in the competition in 2019, saying that it would live long in his memory. “It’s extremely sad to see him move on, but we wish him all the best for the future,” said Gidman.

Meanwhile, Warwickshire has announced the signing of Ali on a three-year contract for white-ball cricket.