Moeen Ali

Moeen Ali, known fondly as "the beard that's feared" at New Road, started out as something of a batting prodigy but it was his offspin that got him his place in the England side after the retirement of Graeme Swann. Fittingly then, it was as an allrounder that he found success.

His batting stood out during his early Test appearances. An outstanding 108 not out, spread over six and a half hours and 281 balls, against Sri Lanka at Headingley in 2014 in his second Test, took England to within two balls of saving the series. With his bowling on the other hand, he initially struggled to offer his captain the requisite control in the field.

After a conversation with former Test offspinner Kumar Dharmasena, an umpire in the India series later that summer, who provided technical advice about how to achieve extra pace without losing flight, Moeen was tighter at Lord's against India, devastating in Southampton, and excellent at Old Trafford, finishing that series with 19 wickets.

He had a bowling record to compare with the best in county cricket during his time. He managed a Test hat-trick against South Africa at The Oval in 2017, in a series in which he took 25 wickets (and scored 252 runs), and played a significant part in England winning the 2015 Ashes, as well as in the 3-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka in 2018-19. In all Tests he dismissed Virat Kohli six times and Ajinkya Rahane eight times.

Signed by Warwickshire at 15, Moeen made centuries on his first-class and Championship debuts. He also captained England Under-19s to the semi-final of the 2006 World Cup, blasted a 56-ball hundred in an U-19 Test against Sri Lanka, and at 14 made 195 not out in a T20 for his Under-15 club side Moseley Ashfield. The next highest score was 11.

Frustrated by a lack of opportunity at Warwickshire, he left for local rivals Worcestershire at the end of 2006, and was a key part of the team that won the Pro-40 title in 2007 - including making a 46-ball century against Northants.

Moeen manfully carried the spin-bowling load in one of the most under-resourced areas of the English Test game in the years following his debut, and he finished with just over 200 wickets and 3000 runs, which made him England's third-most prolific spinner. He said that he felt his batting had been "wasted" in Test cricket, where he featured everywhere from No. 1 to No. 9, but it did produce highlights like the four centuries he made in 2016, two of them away against India.

A key member of England's white-ball revolution under Eoin Morgan, he won two World Cups, and was a regular at the IPL, winning two titles with Chennai Super Kings. His flair for fast scoring, and utility as an allrounder, encouraged the decision to focus solely on white-ball cricket after the turn of the 2020s.

His captaincy skills also came to the fore around then: Worcestershire secured a maiden T20 title under him, and he led Birmingham Phoenix to the final of the inaugural Hundred.

Moeen called it a day in international cricket in 2024, then moved into coaching while still turning out in T20 leagues around the world.