October 24, 2023 England's Moeen Ali during practice
Credit: Reuters Photo
Bengaluru: Over the last few years, England's success in the white ball formats was built on downright aggression, and all-rounder Moeen Ali on Tuesday admitted that the defending champions have not been able to produce that kind of cricket in this World Cup.
England have lost three games out of four in this tournament and are in dire need to win the next matches to keep their hopes of reaching the semifinals alive.
"We've been playing aggressive cricket since 2015 and done it quite well. I think the lack of that way of cricket has probably cost us a little bit in this tournament. I think we need to play that way, but without slogging the ball, but just be that really aggressive side that we know we can be," said Ali in the pre-match press conference.
However, Ali was candid enough to say that playing that brand of cricket is not always easy, as it required sustained aggression.
"It's not always that easy. Yeah, most of the time you want the guys to score quickly and score for longer periods, so then it makes it easier for everybody else. But it doesn't always work like that," he said.
However, the 36-year-old hoped that openers – Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan – and the No. 3 batter would fire soon so that the middle-order players can cash in on it, something of a template South Africa have been setting here.
"If you get your openers and your top three firing, it certainly helps everybody else and you get in the big scores aside. We've spoken about it, and it's not always easy. We know you can't do it all the time. But the guys are due for some runs, and hopefully, it's going to come now," he added.
Ali reasoned that his and captain Jos Buttler's experience of playing in the IPL would come good for England at some stage in the tournament.
"Jos has played a lot here as well, so he knows a lot of the conditions, and he knows what happens in India. And yeah, he bounces a few ideas off me, and I do the same thing," he said.
The Warwickshire all-rounder said the team as a whole will have to regroup quickly to affect a turnaround in its fortunes.
"We're disappointed. You've got to move on as quick as you can and regroup. Everything is a must-win and we know we've been in this position before, probably not to this degree. We have to get our confidence and perform well and bat and bowl and field better," he added.
Ali also exhorted his teammates to forget about individual goals and focus on how to take England back in to this World Cup.
"It comes down to the individual to perform. As long as it's within the team's way of playing, I think that's really important. Because you can get individuals get a bit, not selfish, but they start thinking about themselves rather than the team. I think it's important that we forget all that and just, as an individual, once you get the opportunity, you try and win the game (for the team), and that's the most important thing," he noted.
However, Ali admitted that not getting a place in the playing 11 in the match against South Africa was a frustrating experience for him.
"It's very frustrating because you want to play and make some sort of difference. Yeah, it's difficult when you're not winning and then when you're not playing on top of that, it's hard. But you prepare well and that's all you can do at the minute," he signed off.