Moeen shrugs off England negativity

Moeen Ali believes it was his ability to shut out the background noise and negativity that led to his return to form in Christchurch.

Moeen stroked 128 as England secured their first win of the tournament at the third attempt. And while the victory came against a relatively unfancied Scotland side, after two absolute thrashings in their opening games England were hardly in a position to take any result for granted.

They were also struggling for confidence. Some self-doubt was probably inevitable after the magnitude of those first defeats, but it was only increased after criticism from the media and even friends back at home. The match against Scotland - a no-win encounter in some ways - loomed.

For Moeen, at least, the secret was to relax and not over-think his game. Which sounds simple, but when you receive constant reminders of your side's struggles, it is far from easy.

"With the way we have been playing, people have been talking negatively," Moeen said. "It was difficult [to be positive] with the lack of performances against Australia and New Zealand.

"Family and friends text you saying 'do this, do that' and you end up thinking 'it's not that easy'. You do get a sense of negativity.

"Sometimes it's friends, sometimes it's random people telling me to take my time or do this or that. You can't listen to everyone. I try to reply but there's one or two when I think, 'You're taking the Mick now!'"

It is telling that Moeen choose to work with Paul Farbrace in between games. While some coaches may be verbose or critical, Farbrace - who led Sri Lanka to World T20 success only a year ago - tends to be simple and positive. And, when you only have a few days between games, it is that uncomplicated assistance that most players prefer.

So Moeen was reassured over his level of talent and informed that if he trusted that natural ability, rather than feeling the need to premeditate strokes, he would flourish.

"Paul Farbrace took away everything negative and just told me to be true to myself," Moeen said. "He told me to play the way I wanted to play. He said it didn't matter how many I scored as long as my mindset was right, I played with freedom and I kept it really simple.

"As a batter you aren't always 100% and then you perhaps search for it a little bit more. You try to take bowlers down. But I think if I just bat the way I bat, with my reactions I will still score quickly enough. We always talk about reacting to the ball and playing on instincts a lot. That century against Scotland was the first time [in the World Cup] I didn't premeditate, I just reacted to balls and enjoyed it.

"When you premeditate you play shots that are probably not there. Yesterday I 100% backed my reactions and most of the time, when you are playing well, that's what you do. It's just when you haven't scored for a couple of games you go away from that.

"You have to stay positive, I know it is a cliché but keep it as simple as you can and go back to basics and enjoying it like it's a game in the park, not take it too seriously."

It is easier to relax, of course, when the opposition are Scotland rather than New Zealand or Australia, so the real test will come on Sunday when England return to Wellington to play Sri Lanka. But as far as Moeen is concerned, the principles will remain the same: England have to continue to "express themselves" and ignore the media, the crowd and the messages from home that might cause any doubt to creep in.

"Everyone is trying to get the players to play the best cricket they can," he said. "Everybody wants England to do well and it can be frustrating for everybody as well as us.

"Sometimes, because of all that, we probably go into our shells a bit rather than going out and expressing ourselves. We should take away all that attention, enjoy it again and go out and have a bit of fun and still be clinical.

"I speak to the right people as much as I can. People who I feel are positive and are not talking about the pressures. I try to speak to my parents, my brother. Paul Farbrace is really good for that.

"I just take my mind away from cricket a little. Sometimes, you think about cricket and do so much that it can easily take over everything. I go back to reading, doing something else, so when the cricket time comes I'm ready."

While Moeen was able to play the fearless cricket that England often talk about but seldom show, his team-mates struggled to follow suit. Gary Ballance, who has scored 10 in each of the first three games, has looked especially out of sorts and could be replaced for the Sri Lanka game by Alex Hales, the only England player to make a T20 century.