Moeen Ali will go into his 50th Test match against New Zealand in Auckland this week having batting in ALL positions in the top nine since making his England debut four years ago.
The Worcestershire all-rounder has shown his versatility and willingness to play where required after making his first appearance in the number six berth against Sri Lanka at Lord’s nearly four years ago.
Moeen was occupying the number eight position the following year but by the winter of 2015 was opening for his country against Pakistan in the UAE.
He was back at number eight for the next series in South Africa and then climbed to number five for the 2016 winter battles in Bangladesh and number four by the end of the series in India which followed immediately on.
The 30-year-old found himself at number seven and eight for the following 12 months but Ben Stokes absence meant he started the recent Ashes series at six.
Moeen enjoyed his most success at number four with 256 runs from five innings at an average of 51.20 followed by 830 runs from 20 innings at 48.82 batting at number seven.
The highest proportion of his innings have come at number eight – 26 – with 657 runs at 29.86.
Moeen’s performances with the bat in the different positions for England are:
Opener – Inns 6, Runs 84, Average 14.00
Number Three – 1, 5, 5.00
Number Four – 5, 256, 51.20
Number Five – 7, 212, 30.29
Number Six – 14, 334, 23.86
Number Seven – 20, 830, 48.82
Number Eight – 26, 657, 29.86
Number Nine – 4, 89, 29.67
