Moeen Ali with Alastair Cook Photo- Getty
Moeen Ali with Alastair Cook Photo- Getty

Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook and spinner Moeen Ali got into a heated argument on the air during BT Sport’s coverage of the ongoing fourth Test between England and Australia of the Ashes 2021-22. The ex-spinner and captain’s awkward conversation took place during the rain-affected first day of the match between England and Australia.

Australia chose to bat first on day one of the Sydney Test match, which was constantly being interrupted by rain and only 46.5 overs of play was possible on the first day, in which Australia made 126/3. English pace trio of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, and Mark Wood each got a wicket.

David Warner and Marcus Harris
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Alastair Cook Offended By Moeen Ali’s Take That Joe Root Is A Better Captain When It Comes Player Attachment

While talking about the burning issue of whether Joe Root should continue as England captain after the visitors lost the first three Ashes Tests of the ongoing series. England lost the first Test in Brisbane by 9 wickets, the second Test in Adelaide, a day-night affair by 275 runs, and the third Test in Melbourne by an innings and 16 runs.

Moeen Ali then started to compare the captaincy styles of Alastair Cook, under whom he had made his Test debut, and Joe Root, under whose captaincy, he called time on his Test career.

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Moeen Ali and Alastair Cook on BT Sports. Photo- Bt Sports
Moeen Ali and Alastair Cook on BT Sports. Photo- Bt Sports

Rooty has more of an emotional attachment with the players, he spends more time with the players,” he said.

Cook seemed to take offence to this and responded: “Are you just criticising my captaincy?”, before Ali replied bluntly: “I am a little bit, yeah. They’re both very different, I did do better with the bat under Cooky but with the ball I was better with Rooty.”

Cook shot back: “So you might criticise me but I’ve never dropped you, how many times did Rooty drop you?” And neither did Ali, who said: “That’s true but you also batted me from 1 to 9 in my first year of international cricket.”

Cook tried to explain that as a captain he was trying to find a perfect role for Moeen Ali as he didn’t know if he was an opening batter or a tailender when he first came into the England team.

Moeen Ali and Alastair Cook. Photo- Getty
Moeen Ali and Alastair Cook. Photo- Getty

Ali then mentioned he hadn’t previously had a conversation of that nature with Cook, before he continued: “Just to go back to my point, Rooty was a little bit more involved with the players, in my opinion. Not that Cooky doesn’t care but I think Rooty is a bit more ‘arm over the shoulder’ kind of guy.”

Not impressed with Ali’s opinions, Cook retorted: “I’m not sure I will take this anymore, I’ve just come back from a nice holiday and I’ve walked straight into Moeen Ali off his long run.”

On the field, England are trying their best to avoid a series white-wash as they have already surrendered the urn to Australia trailing in the series 0-3.

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