I have a lot of sympathy for Moeen: Nathan Lyon

Courtesy of an unfortunate injury to Jack Leach ahead of Ashes 2023, Moeen Ali was requested to come out of retirement and play in the ongoing series against Australia. The veteran all-rounder obliged skipper Ben Stokes but regrettably, hadn’t had a great time in the first match since his much-anticipated return. Notably, other than leaking a lot of runs, the cricketer also hurt his hand while bowling and used a relief spray, which is banned in cricket. Thus, he was eventually fined 25% of the match fees but in return, he was supported by Graeme Swann and Harbhajan Singh among many other former cricketers.

Meanwhile, Ali’s return to the longest format of the game was much of a surprise. He was expected to travel to the USA for the upcoming Major League Cricket and thus, barely had any prior practice with the red ball. Talking about the same, legendary Australia spinner, Nathan Lyon stated that he has sympathy for the 36-year-old as it’s very tough to ball in Test cricket all of a sudden.

“It’s massive to be honest with you, I actually sitting here have a lot of sympathy for Moeen. Not coming off any red-ball cricket for two years and thrown into bowling a lot of overs. The best way I can probably sum it up, and it will probably sound weird, is a singer losing their vocals but expecting to go out and put a concert on.

I’ve been there before, it is quite painful: Lyon

The legendary Australian spinner also discussed about gripping the ball. Citing Ali's finger blister, Lyon stated that to get ample spin during the trajectory, being an off-spinner it is quite difficult to generate it if not giving the ball enough revolution from the back side of the seam. Hence, to do that with an injured finger is terribly painful for Moeen Ali.

“It is extremely tough to grip the ball as finger spinners, especially as offies, we put our fingers on the seam and try to spin up the back of the ball. That’s where we get spin, drop and drift. So (I’ve) a lot of sympathy for him, I’ve been there before, it is quite painful,” Lyon was quoted as saying by The Mirror.

Notably, Moeen Ali picked up three wickets in total and will be looking to get better as England doesn’t have a lot of options in hand at the moment.