Moeen Ali is not impressed with England’s tight schedule©AFP
On Sunday, the England cricket team won the ICC T20 World Cup title, beating Pakistan by 5 wickets in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. On Thursday they will play the first game of the 3-ODI series against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. The long pause between two engagements has enraged many players and support staff. While Moeen Ali, England’s seasoned all-rounder, expressed his frustration at the tight schedule, former Australia captain Michael Clarke has been berating him and other England players for ‘whining’.
Moeen described the series’ scheduling as “terrible,” suggesting that it’s quite difficult to maintain the same intensity for every game. Clarke responded to Moeen’s complaint, saying he would not say the same thing if a plane were pulled from the Indian Premier League just after the T20 World Cup.
“If it played in the T20 World Cup and got on a plane the next day to go to the IPL, I don’t think you’d hear anyone whining,” Clarke told Fox Sports.
“Players shouldn’t complain about the international schedule if they take the opportunity to also play domestic cricket for franchises for money if you can have those six or eight weeks off. Then you’ll be fresh as a daisy. I clearly got that found very difficult.”
The England team is given just three days between the T20 World Cup and the ODI series. But Moeen made it clear that giving 100% in the ODI series is not always possible.
“Having a game in three days, it’s terrible. “But it’s better than two days. If it had rained on Sunday, it would have been two days [if the reserve day came into play]. As players, we’re starting to get used to it a bit now. But to give 100 per cent all the time is difficult when you play every two or three days,” Moeen had said.
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