Moeen 'proud' to be on the edge of debut

England

Worcestershire all-rounder Moeen Ali is on the brink of making his England debut, in line for a start against Sri Lanka at Lord's this week, and he has dedicated the opportunity to his brothers and father.

Worcestershire all-rounder Moeen Ali is on the brink of making his England debut, in line for a start against Sri Lanka at Lord's this week, and he has dedicated the opportunity to his brothers and father.

Moeen's success has come mostly as a batsman in recent months, but he is set to play as a spinning all-rounder, batting down the order, come Thursday. He was overjoyed to be considered, saying it meant a lot to the Muslim community.

Moeen said on Tuesday: "I've played quite a few Test matches in the back garden with my two brothers and this one is quite different, but it's a lot more exciting, and I know they'll be proud.

"I know my brothers and my dad will be very happy to see me play, I'm more happy for them than anyone else.

"To do this for people of faith, and for the community where I'm from, and everyone from Worcestershire, I'm very proud of that."

Moeen is in line to debut with Sam Robson and Chris Jordan, and this could be the first time since 1988 that three players debut for England at the Home of Cricket. Australia-born Robson and Barbados Jordan have been in superb for this season.

Ali added: "All three of us were in Australia this winter on the performance programme and I know Sam and CJ really well. We're all excited that we could all potentially be playing.

"I remember sitting in Australia with CJ saying how much we'd love to play Test cricket together and it's really nice that we've both played ODIs and T20s together, and now hopefully Test cricket.

"Sam's one of the best openers I've seen in the county circuit, he knows his game inside out and is a proper rock solid batter and hopefully we can see the best of him in this series."

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