GEORGE DOBELL IN MELBOURNE: Moeen is among those who played in the T20 World Cup final in Melbourne on Sunday expected to be back in action in Adelaide on Thursday when England and Australia start a new ODI series
Moeen Ali has described England's schedule as "horrible" and suggested it may be compromising players' ability to perform at their best.
Moeen is among those who played in the T20 World Cup final in Melbourne on Sunday expected to be back in action in Adelaide on Thursday when England and Australia start a new ODI series.
That, Moeen believes, gives little opportunity to recover mentally or physically from the exertions of the World Cup. And it brings back memories of 2019, when England were obliged to play a Test against Ireland just days after their World Cup victory.
"Having a game in three days' time, it's horrible," Moeen said. "But it's better than two days' time. If it had rained on Sunday, it would have been two days [as a reserve day would have been used]. As players we're kind of getting used to it now. But to give 100 per cent all the time is difficult when you're playing every two, three days.
Moeen Ali has described England's schedule as "horrible" [Getty Images]
Moeen and England won the T20 World Cup on Sunday, they play Australia in an ODI on Thursday [Getty Images]
"It's been happening for a while. Because when we won the World Cup in 2019, we had an Ashes game two weeks later and we had a Test match against Ireland about 10 days later.
"Those kind of things are a shame. As a group we want to enjoy and celebrate and have that [time] because you put so much into it. It's not just while the tournament is going on, there's the pre-tournament, the build-up and all that."
Moeen previously declined an invitation to return to the Test squad for the Tests tour of Pakistan, citing fatigue at living in bubbles.
Matthew Mott, England's limited-overs coach, expressed sympathy with Moeen's view.
Matthew Mott, the England head coach, describe the schedule as "not ideal" [Getty Images]
England beat Pakistan by five wickets at the MCG [Getty Images]
"It's not ideal, I can't lie," Mott said. "I think we always saw that series as being something that we will have to be really professional about.
"We've got to enjoy this victory. They don't come around very often so there'll be no disguising the fact that we will enjoy this. We’ll have a good day today and we had a great night last night.
"But come game day, we’ve got to turn up and make sure we put out a great effort. For the white ball team in particular, we get through those three games and then there's a long break. So that'll be the time to properly let the hair down and enjoy it but the schedule is the schedule and we've got to move with it."
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