Alex Gidman says it will be “inspiring” to have Worcestershire Vitality Blast winning captain Moeen Ali back in the side after England’s ICC World Cup heroics for Thursday’s opening game against Notts Outlaws at Trent Bridge.
Moeen played in five of England’s matches in the tournament and, in completing 100 ODI appearances, has been a key member of the side rebuilt by Eoin Morgan and Andrew Strauss since the 2015 World Cup failure.
He will make his first appearance of the summer for Worcestershire against the Outlaws in the Sky Sports televised encounter.
First Team Coach Gidman, who played alongside Moeen during the 2015 season, said: “Mo is a hugely popular member of the team, of the club, and it is quite inspiring to have him back after what he has been through over the last few weeks.
“Everyone will be keen to see him but also probably to hear him talk a little bit about the last few weeks and give the guys a bit of a boost after what has been a tough couple of weeks.
“Mo first and foremost loves playing cricket and I’m sure he is looking forward to playing for us and at the same time riding on the high of what he has been through.
“T20 in this country is pretty big. It is obviously not as close as it is to a Word Cup but in terms of playing at Trent Bridge in front of pretty much a full house, and then the local derby on Friday, they are two really good games for him to come into and two good games for us as a group to start the campaign with.
“I’m sure he is absolutely buzzing, and quite rightly so, and energy that the rest of the team can feed off.”
