Moeen Ali has backed “gun player” Ben Stokes to show his class at the T20 World Cup, adding he will still be vital to the England team even if he does not score any runs.
Stokes has been dismissed for nine and seven in the opening two T20 internationals against Australia, both of which England won by eight runs to earn a series victory with a game to spare.
Test skipper Stokes still played a big role in England’s triumph in Canberra on Wednesday evening, dismissing Australia’s top-scorer Mitchell Marsh after previously denying him a six with a staggering stop on the boundary.
Speaking ahead of today’s third and final T20 international, also in Canberra, Moeen said: “When the big games come, he’ll score runs and that’s what you want from your gun players.
“Ben offers so much even if he’s not scoring runs – he opened the bowling (on Wednesday night) and bowled really well and he was brilliant in the field – that effort was amazing.
“I don’t care if Ben doesn’t score any runs in the next couple of games because once the World Cup comes, I’m sure he’ll be fine. Even if he doesn’t score runs, he’s a great player to have in your team.”
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England have now won six of their last seven T20 internationals against Australia, including an eight-wicket thumping of Aaron Finch’s side in the group stage of last year’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
It also now three successive bilateral series victories over Australia in the format, with home seamer Josh Hazlewood saying England have “got the wood over us”.
After today, the teams will then meet again at the T20 World Cup, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 28.
Hazlewood said of England: “They’ve got the wood over us in the last few series, they’re a quality outfit.
“I still think they’re pretty close to the benchmark with India. It’s a good challenge to have leading into the World Cup and playing three games against them.”
Moeen added: “I don’t think it’s a mental edge on Australia. We know under pressure in group games in the World Cup they will be completely different.
“It’s whoever turns up on the day. We know that as a team because we’ve lost in semi-finals and finals when we haven’t quite turned up. That’s where we want to change things.”