During the first Ashes test match, which took place in Edgbaston, England, on Monday, England’s Stuart Broad claimed two late wickets to put pressure on Australia as the match was heading toward a dramatic conclusion.
After bowling England out for 273 shortly before lunch on the shifting fourth day of the match, Australia went about their 281 win goal calmly but concluded the day in a precarious position on 107 for three.
Today, on the last day of the match at Edgbaston, the off-spin bowling of England’s Moeen Ali seems to be an important influence.
Moeen, who came out of test retirement to join the team after first-choice spinner Jack Leach sustained a stress fracture in his spine, is having trouble getting a good grip on the ball. This is the main issue that he is having since rejoining the group.
The 36-year-old player has been suffering from a finger blister during the whole of the competition, and on Saturday he was penalized a quarter of his match money for the improper use of a drying agent.
Nathan Lyon, an off-spinner for Australia who took four wickets while allowing 80 runs in the second innings, conveyed his condolences to Moeen, another spinner for the other team.
“I have a lot of compassion for Mo because after not playing any red-ball cricket for two years, he was thrown into the fire and asked to bowl a lot of overs. If I had to summarize it in one sentence, I would say that it is comparable to the situation in which a singer has a loss of voice ability yet is still expected to perform at a performance.
“Getting a good hold on the ball is really difficult, particularly for finger spinners. Off-spinners, also known as offies, place their fingers on the seam of the ball and attempt to spin it up the back of the ball. This is the area of the ball where spin, drop, and drift occur.
Therefore, I feel a great deal of compassion for him. I’ve been there before. It is pretty painful.”