Moeen Ali’s excellent performances for England with the ball during the second half of 2018 are reflected in his high placing in terms of the most wickets in international cricket during the calendar year.
The Worcestershire all-rounder, who led the Rapids to Vitality Blast trophy glory, finished the calendar year with a combined tally of 62 wickets from Test, ODI and T20I matches.
It is the fourth best tally this year with only India’s Kuldeep Yadav (76), Moeen’s spin partner Adil Rashid (76) and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada (71) ahead of the 31-year-old.
Moeen achieved his lofty position despite being left out of five successive Test matches against New Zealand, Pakistan and India.
His tally consists of 32 Test victims, 29 ODI scalps and one T20I wicket.
Moeen ended the year on a high with 18 wickets in the Test whitewash of Sri Lanka – his best tally in an away series.
Five of the top seven wickets are spinners.
Moeen is now recharging his batteries before England return to action in the New Year against the West Indies with the squad due to be announced next week.
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LEADING INTERNATIONAL WICKET-TAKERS 2018
Kuldeep Yada (India) – 76
Adil Rashid (England) – 76
Kagiso Rabada (South Africa) – 71
MOEEN ALI (ENGLAND) – 62
Akila Dananjaya (Sri Lanka) – 62
Jasprit Bumrah (India) – 58
Shadab Khan (Pakistan) – 58
Trent Boult (New Zealand) – 55
Jason Holder (West Indies) – 54
Mehidy Hasan Miraz (Bangladesh) – 54
