WORCESTERSHIRE star Moeen Ali has been called into England’s Test and One Day squads to tour Bangladesh next month.
The popular New Road spinner was this morning (Friday) included in the 17-man Test squad and the 15-man ODI squad.
England play Bangladesh in three ODIs starting October 4 with a three-match Test series on October 20.
But Ali will face plenty of competition as far as his bowling credentials in the Tests are concerned with three other spinners picked including former Worcestershire spinner Gareth Batty.
Now at Surrey, the 38-year-old was the last Worcestershire player to be capped by England before the emergence of Ali.
Adil Rashid of Yorkshire and Surrey’s Zafar Ansari make up the four spinners in the Test squad
The Test squad also features fresh faces in the batting line-up including teenager Haseeb Hameed of Lancashire and Ben Duckett of Northamptonshire.
National Selector James Whitaker, said: “Selecting four spinners for the Test matches will give the coaches and captain plenty of options.
“Alongside Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, we are excited about the qualities that Zafar Ansari and Gareth Batty bring to the squad. Zafar has great potential both with bat and ball and Gareth’s experience as one of the country’s best slow bowlers and his ability to be effective in subcontinent conditions will be beneficial this winter.
“The challenge we face will be very different and the structure of our squads reflects the conditions we expect to encounter in Bangladesh.”
In the ODI squad, Ali may face competition from felow spinners Rashid and Yorkshire’s Liam Dawson.