England’s Ali retires from international cricket at 37

The Birmingham-born left-handed batter and right-arm spinner has played in 68 tests, 138 One-Day Internationals and 92 Twenty20 Internationals for England since 2014, with his last international appearance in June.

“I’m 37 years old and didn’t get picked for this month’s Australia series,” Ali said.

“I’ve played a lot of cricket for England. It’s time for the next generation, which was also explained to me. It felt the time was right. I’ve done my part.”

The first Asian-origin cricketer to captain England in T20Is, Ali has scored five centuries in tests and three in ODIs, also taking 366 wickets across all three formats. He was in the squad when England won the 50-over World Cup in 2019 and the T20 World Cup in 2022.

Ali, who holds the England record for the fastest half-century in T20Is having reached fifty in 16 balls against South Africa in 2022, said he was proud of his international career.

“When you first play for England, you don’t know how many games you are going to play. So to play nearly 300 … I know they were the best days of my life,” Ali said.

Ali said he planned to keep playing in franchise cricket and take up coaching in the future.

“I could hold on and try to play for England again, but I know in reality I won’t,” he added.

“Even retiring, I don’t feel it’s because I’m not good enough … but I get how things are, and the team needs to evolve into another cycle. It’s about being real to myself.”

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