Wednesday, November 4th, 2015

Moeen Up To Seventh Spot In Leading Test Wicket-Takers Of 2015

Moeen Up To Seventh Spot In Leading Test Wicket-Takers Of 2015

Moeen Ali's all-round contribution with England is reflected in his wicket tally at Test level during 2015.

The Worcestershire player's dismissal of Pakistan centurion Mohammad Hafeez today in the Third Test was his 32nd victim this year in his 12th Test during that period.

That lifted the 28-year-old into seventh spot in the list of wicket-takers during this calendar year.

Although the current series with Pakistan has not been his most prolific, Moeen has made a telling contribution with bat and ball in 2015.

He was England's third highest run-scorer in the Ashes triumph this summer despite batting at eight – and sometimes nine – in the order with only Joe Root and Alastair Cook ahead of him.

Now he has moved up to the top of the order to fill another role asked of him by England even though he has never previously opened in first class cricket.

Moeen also returned his best figures in ODIs with 3-32 against Australia at Emirates Old Trafford in September.

The leading wicket-takers in Test cricket in 2015 are:

Stuart Broad (England) – 51 in 13 Tests

Jimmy Anderson (England) – 46 in 11 Tests

Yasir Shah (Pakistan) – 45 in 7 Tests

Dhammika Prasad (Sri Lanka) – 41 in 9 Tests

Mitchell Starc (Australia) – 33 in 8 Tests

Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka) 33 in 8 Tests

MOEEN ALI (England) 32 in 12 Tests

Josh Hazlewood (Australia) 31 in 7 Tests

Ravichandran Ashwin (India) 31 in 5 Tests

Nathan Lyon (Australia) 28 in 8 Tests