Moeen believed that his call was keeping in mind England’s needs, a team looking to rebuild ahead of their upcoming white-ball cycle which features the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.

“I could hold on and try to play for England again, but I know in reality I won’t,” Moeen said. “Even retiring, I don’t feel it’s because I’m not good enough — I still feel I can play. But I get how things are, and the team needs to evolve into another cycle. It’s about being real to myself.”

Moeen made his international debut in 2014 against West Indies. He scored 6678 international runs and picked 366 wickets. He won the 2019 Cricket World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup with the senior men’s side.

As a youngster Moeen tended towards batting, but in the England shirt, he developed his bowling well enough to become their leading bowler in the Tests. He finished with 204 Test scalps, making him the third-best England spinner in the format, sitting behind Derek Underwood (297) and Graeme Swann (255).