Moeen Ali isn’t impressed with England’s cramped schedule© AFP
On Sunday, the England cricket team lifted the ICC T20 World Cup title, defeating Pakistan by 5 wickets in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. On Thursday, they will be playing the first match of the 3-ODI series against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. The length of the break between two assignments has left many players and support staff infuriated. As Moeen Ali, England’s veteran all-rounder, expressed his frustration at the cramped schedule, Australia’s former captain Michael Clarke has slammed him and other English players for ‘whinging’.
Moeen described the scheduling of the series as ‘horrible’, suggesting it is quite difficult to maintain the same intensity for every game. Clarke, responding to Moeen’s complaint, said that he wouldn’t be saying the same if there was an Indian Premier League plane to catch right after the T20 World Cup.
“If it was playing in the T20 World Cup and then the next day get on a plane to depart for the IPL, I don’t think you’d hear anybody whinge,” Clarke was quoted as saying by Fox Sports.
“Players can’t complain about the international schedule when they’re taking the opportunity to play domestic cricket as well for franchises for money when you can have those six or eight weeks off. Then you’d be as fresh as a daisy. I’ve obviously found that very hard.”
The England team only gets three days of time between the T20 World Cup and the ODI series. But, Moeen made it clear that giving 100% in the ODI series isn’t always possible.
“Having a game in three days’ time, it’s horrible. “But it’s better than two days’ time. If it had rained on Sunday, it would have been two days [if the reserve day came into play]. As players, we’re kind of getting used to it now. But to give 100 percent all the time is difficult when you’re playing every two, three days,” Moeen had said.
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