Tuesday 12 March 2019 17:10, UK
Worcestershire all-rounder Moeen Ali has targeted an England call-up after winning the FTI Most Valuable Player Award.
The award, and £10,000 cheque capped a superb season for the 26-year-old, who pipped Samit Patel to the top spot as his second-innings 44 and 6-77 helped Worcestershire to victory over promoted Northamptonshire in the final round of COunty Championship matches.
He finished the season with 2,016 runs and 52 wickets in all forms of the game and after being rewarded with a place in the England Performance Programme squad for the winter, he hopes to follow the likes of Ben Stokes, Boyd Rankin and Gary Balance into the senior side.
"It seems that you have to go through the whole development thing first and then they pick you," he said.
"I think all the new lads who are playing at the moment have been on that trip in the last couple of years.
"Being in the system since I was a kid, you know how it works a bit more and now that I am a bit more mature in my game and off the field, it hopefully will help me settle in well.
"I don't just consider myself as a batter, I think I am a batting all-rounder, really, and my bowling is much better than people actually think.
"It's another way to get into the side and keep yourself busy when you are fielding and looking forward to bowling.
"Sometimes if you are competing as a batter, the bowling might just give you that extra bit."
