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Moeen Ali hoping to feature in Big Bash League

by Andrew Wood Monday 16 May 2016

Moeen Ali wants to follow Adil Rashid's trait in the previous season of Big Bash League.

©REUTERS / Action Images

England all-rounder Moeen Ali said that he will love to play in Australia’s premier Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League provided a team is interested to sign him up.

England’s spinner Adil Rashid took part in the 2015-16 Big Bash League and was the tournament’s second best bowler with 16 scalps from nine matches at an average of 14.12.

Rashid also went on to take five wickets in the 2016 World T20 where England finished as runners-up after losing a thrilling final to West Indies.

Along with Stuart Broad, Ali was England’s best bowler in 2015 with 65 wickets from 35 matches across the three formats of the game, bowling a total of 575 overs, the most by any England bowler last year.

Though it was tough to find the schedule to play in the Big Bash League, Ali is hoping that a team picks him up in the next edition of the tournament.

“I’d love to play (in the Big Bash League),” Ali said at the launch of the NatWest T20 Blast.

“Obviously playing for England is the number one priority for me but if there’s time and there’s a team out there, I’d love to play in the Big Bash.

“I think it’d make a big difference to my game by playing and being exposed to that competition.

“It is hard to find time with our schedule the way it is.

“(But) I think we’ll see more and more English guys playing in these competitions once the time is freed up a bit more.”

Reflecting on Rashid’s experience in the previous season of the Big Bash League, Ali said that the leg-spinner gained plenty of confidence from playing in a highly competitive tournament ahead of the World T20.

“Adil absolutely loved it. He spoke about how good the competition was and how well they get looked after.

“He said it was a really good competition and obviously the crowds in Australia are amazing – the support he got from the crowds was amazing.

“I know Adil definitely came back with more confidence.

“It’s not just he went out there and did really well, it’s the fact that he came as a (more) confident player.

“Playing a high standard of competition was good (for him) just before the T20 World Cup.

“When you get exposed and do well, you get a lot of more confidence from that than from being in the nets.”

Since making his international debut for England in 2014, Ali took 113 wickets from 77 games across the three formats of the game, a tally which is only bettered by James Anderson, who has 114 scalps from 41 matches during the same period.