England all-rounder Moeen Ali will leave Worcestershire County when his contract expires at the end of this summer, the club confirmed on Wednesday.
There was much speculation about the cricketer, who retired from Test cricket in September last year to prolong his white-ball career, about his county move, with several clubs including Yorkshire and Warwickshire. were reportedly inclined to sign him.
Worcestershire County Cricket Club can confirm that Moeen Ali will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of this summer.
The inspirational all-rounder joined Pearce in 2006 and played around 350 games for the club across all formats.
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— Worcestershire County Cricket Club (@WorcsCCC) 6 July 2022
The all-rounder joined Worcester from Warwickshire in September 2006 and has played around 350 games across all formats, scoring over 13,000 runs, taking over 300 wickets and winning three trophies in his time at the club.
He made his final appearance in Worcestershire’s final Vitality Blast of the 2022 season at New Road against Notts Outlaw on 3 July.
Moeen, 35, was a regular for Worcestershire across all formats until he made his England debut and was centrally contracted. “England’s commitments and the COVID pandemic have meant that their availability for the Pears was very limited over the past three years,” a club statement said.
His first major trophy-winning success came in his second season with County, in which he played a part in the club’s NatWest Pro40 title win. Red-Ball success immediately followed with promotion in 2008 and then straight back to Division One in 2010. Moeen was also part of the team that won the promotion in 2017.
Moeen’s best memory in Worcestershire colors came recently, when the Rapids led the way to their first Vitality Blast title in 2018. The following year saw more white-ball success, with the Rapids, one ball away from becoming the first club to achieve that. One T20 title after another.
“Moeen will always be remembered as an inspirational leader who has played a huge role at the club in his 16 years at New Road,” the statement read.
“I am saddened to leave Worcestershire after such a long time and love every minute of it. I have played with some wonderful people and many thanks to the club for bringing me here and giving me the platform to perform. Now I think it’s time to go back to Birmingham for the back end of my career, but I’ll always love Worcestershire. I hope I’ve made the fans proud,” said Moeen.
Moeen Ali has signed a three-year white ball contract with Warwickshire.
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Warwickshire County Cricket Club has signed England international all-rounder Moeen Ali on a three-year white-ball contract.
I#ubears #MoIsHome pic.twitter.com/ak2xu9ZdeW
— Bear (@WarwickshireCCC) 6 July 2022
Head coach Alex Gidman said, “It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Mo in a coach-captain relationship for the past four years. Coming so close to winning the Vitality Blast in 2018 and retaining it in 2019 has been the turning point of my coaching career. Will live long in my memory as a memorable part of the early days. It’s sad to see him move on, but we wish him all the very best for the future.”
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