MOEEN ALI WILL NOT BOWL IN PERTH WARM-UP

England all-rounder has been suffering with a cut to his right index finger

Moeen Ali will not take on any bowling duties when he captains an England XI in Perth this weekend.

The all-rounder will skipper a side made up of members of the Ashes and Lions squads for the game against a Cricket Australia XI from Saturday but his spinning index finger has not healed sufficiently enough to allow him to turn his arm over.

Moeen sustained a deep cut to the digit during the first Test match against Australia in Brisbane.

With just two wickets to his name, at 98 runs apiece, so far in the Ashes series, it had been thought he would use the two-day match at Richardson Park to find some rhythm with the ball.

However, he has now revealed that he is only in the side as a batsman.

"I probably won't bowl this game," Moeen said. "Just so my finger has more time. It needs to heal. As soon as I start bowling, it starts to rip a little.

"I'm a finger spinner. It's the one thing I need to be 100%. I ripped it in the first game and it's not been easy. I didn't score many runs or take many wickets in Adelaide, so it was a tough game.

^{Moeen Ali will not bowl this weekend}

"I need a bit more time for healing. It is healing now. I didn't bowl much in the second innings in Adelaide, which was actually quite good for my finger, and hopefully, another five or six days' rest will be quite good for it."

Meanwhile, Moeen re-affirmed England's belief that they can haul themselves back into the Test series Down Under, despite being 2-0 down with three to play.

"Two-nil down isn't great, but we've still got a chance," hesaid. "It's a slight chance, but we've a good enough team and we've shown enough fight to show we can compete and get back into the series.

"We took a lot out of Adelaide. We were poor in the first couple of days, but then we started to fight back and that made us closer as a team.

"We started to believe a bit more. On the last day we couldn't do it, but as a team we believe we can definitely fight."

MORE FROM THE CRICKETER: Do England stick or twist in Perth?