Moeen approaching a nightmare

Why has a batsman who bowls been England's first choice spinner for the past three years? © AFP

When your spinner only bowls 13.2 overs in the fourth innings of a match on a pitch as flat as the one at the MCG, you know you have a problem.

Moeen Ali has taken just three wickets in four Test matches during the Ashes at the eye-watering average of 135. He has barely made an impression on this series with ball or bat (136 runs at 19.43) and his position in the team for the final Test in Sydney is under real threat unless the SCG pitch requires two spinners. That looks to be the only way that Moeen can survive.

The offspinner's tour started badly with a side injury which forced him to miss the opening two warm-up matches. Moeen is a bowler who likes and needs work to feel in form and rhythm so the lack of overs in the lead-up to the first Test in Brisbane may have hampered him and he has also had to battle a cut spinning finger, caused by the seam of the Kookaburra ball when bowling in the first innings at the Gabba.

Since that match, things have gone downhill rapidly.

Before this series, Moeen's stock as a Test cricketer had never been higher. He had a fine home summer with both bat and ball taking 30 wickets at 21.29 and scoring 361 runs at 32.81 mainly batting with the tail at number eight. He won England matches at Lord's and Old Trafford against South Africa with five wicket hauls in the fourth innings. The inconsistency which had been a feature of his bowling at Test level to that point had seemingly disappeared.

Because Moeen is, actually, a batsman who bowls. That is what he regards himself as even now. But since Graeme Swann's retirement, Moeen has been England's first choice slow bowler notwithstanding the confusion at the start of the 2017 home summer when Liam Dawson was picked and anointed as the team's first choice spinner in order to take the pressure off Moeen. It seemed to work as Moeen took ten wickets in the match at Lord's, his first with the left-arm spinner, but Dawson only played two matches and was then discarded.

Why has a batsman who bowls been England's first choice spinner for the past three years? That's a good question and perhaps the subject for another piece but it is not Moeen's fault. He has done about as well as anybody could have expected. Others have been tried, notably Adil Rashid, Zafar Ansari and Gareth Batty, while some, such as Mason Crane or Jack Leach, may yet take his spot in the future but Moeen has held down his place in the team with a career bowling average of 39.55 in Test cricket.

His ability with the bat has been a factor, particularly given the struggles of England's batting line-up, as have the unconvincing claims of his competitors but Moeen has never been a top-class spin bowler and probably never will be. Last summer, though, he showed glimpses of his natural talent with the ball and a ferocious appetite to improve. He bowled more, in practice, before play each day, than he ever had before and the influence of part-time spin bowling coach Saqlain Mushtaq was obvious.

After the match against South Africa at Old Trafford, Moeen said how important Saqlain's assistance had been to him. They talked about the role, tactics, some technical things. It had helped. At that stage, the coach's involvement for the Ashes series had not been resolved but Saqlain was part of the coaching staff for the start of the Ashes tour before leaving after the Adelaide Test. That seems incredibly short sighted of the ECB given the impact he had last summer on Moeen's performances.

On commentary today, Swann said that Moeen was not getting any purchase on the ball, one reason why it wasn't spinning or drifting. That may be something to do with his side or his finger although there is no official suggestion that he is still struggling with those injuries. If he isn't, it seems, to a novice at least, a relatively easy thing to fix for a spin bowling coach. Maybe a tweak of technique here, a fresh perspective there. Swann seemed to think so.

Saqlain isn't in Australia, though and so Moeen has to figure things out for himself. He doesn't yet seem to have found the answers. He has bowled poorly this series without much vigour or control and is clearly lacking in confidence as epitomised by the raft of fielders who are positioned on the boundary when he is bowling. His batting, usually so dynamic and free spirited, has become at once both frenzied and timid.

In his dealings with the media, Moeen comes across as one of the most honest and straightforward of England's players. He is hugely popular within the team, too. But he will know that his game has unravelled. He said during the summer that an Ashes tour was a dream for an England cricketer. For him, it is turning into something approaching a nightmare.