moeen ali will make his first appearance of the season for worcestershire rapids in sunday’s home royal london one-day cup clash with lancashire lightning at New Road.
the england all-rounder is back available after being part of the royal challengers bangalore squad in the ipl for for the past six weeks.
moeen played in the final five group matches but the challengers failed to qualify for the knockout stages.
now he is back available for the rapids this weekend after not being selected for the first test match against pakistan at lord’s.
moeen played five one-day cup group matches last summer in addition to the semi-final against surrey at New Road.
he is an integral part of the england side which is now number one in the icc odi rankings.
head coach kevin sharp and skipper joe leach are delighted to have the services of 31-year-old moeen to call upon.
sharp said: “to get mo back, it is always a big boost. the guys love having him here and a man of his skill and ability in our team is precious.
“he is also a role model for them all to look up to in terms of their own aspirations of playing for england.”
leach said: “to have mo around is an absolute bonus. he is a high quality player and popular amongst the lads.
“we are all disappointed for him that he has missed out on that test squad.
“but hopefully that will be our gain and, knowing mo, he will be hungry to come and put in performances for us and prove the selectors wrong.”
