Moeen Ali thanks 'biggest influence' Ottis Gibson for bowling improvement
By Stephen Turner
Last Updated: 20/03/16 12:38pm
Moeen Ali says his emergence as an international bowling all-rounder owes much to the influence of coach Ottis Gibson.
Moeen made his name in county cricket as a fluent top-order batsman, but it is the Worcestershire player's increasingly dependable off-spin that has kept him in the England side through some lean times with the bat - not least when he opened in last year's Test series with Pakistan.
England's bowlers have suffered badly during their opening two World T20 games, first at the hands of Chris Gayle and then a South Africa line-up that racked up 229 in Mumbai.
But Moeen got through a full complement of overs in both games and has the side's best economy rate as his bowling continues to develop despite the lack of a specialist spin bowling coach in India.
Instead it has been left to regular bowling coach Gibson - a paceman in his day - to work with Moeen.
He said: "We had Robert Croft with us as a spin coach in South Africa so I think we're going in that direction but for me, you learn most by playing so a spin coach is more to help you out and be more of a consultant.
"It would be nice but Ottis has been a big help too, probably my biggest influence in the past year or six months. He's helped me a lot in trying to be consistent and understand my own action.
"And the good thing about being someone who can bat is you try to read the batsmen. You can get into the mind of a batter a bit more.
"I'm bowling better than my batting now but I'm still hoping one day they can come together and I can play more like a genuine all-rounder.
"I always felt I tried to spin the ball a lot but the consistency was never there. I bowl a lot more than I used to now. I used to hardly practice, I'd bowl six or seven balls in the nets and think I was okay.
"Now it's 60 or 70 balls minimum. I know it's important for me and the team that I do well."
