Moeen Ali

By Ali Martin/The Guardian

The England selectors could be forced to take a gamble on the fitness of Moeen Ali when they spend yesterday finalising their squad for next month’s three-Test tour of the Caribbean.
Moeen has been told he requires up to four weeks of rest to recover from an abdominal tear suffered during the World Cup-ending 15-run defeat to Bangladesh in Adelaide last Monday. The injury hampers the off-spinner’s bowling and would certainly rule him out of England’s back to back two-day warmup matches in St Kitts from 6 April while also making him a doubt for the series opener against West Indies in Antigua the following week.
Such is Moeen’s importance to Alastair Cook’s Test attack – he claimed 22 wickets in seven matches against Sri Lanka and India after making his debut last summer – the selection panel of James Whitaker, Angus Fraser, Mick Newell and the head coach, Peter Moores, may decide he is a risk worth taking.
England may name a party of 16 or even 17 players for the month-long tour as they look to finish their winter travels on a high following a dismal World Cup campaign. The Yorkshire leg-spinner Adil Rashid had been tipped to provide backup in the slow-bowling department but failed to impress with the ball during the two unofficial A Tests on the Lions tour to South Africa in January, claiming one wicket for 160 runs from only 31 overs.
James Tredwell, who has one Test cap from 2010, may fly out as cover for Moeen despite last season losing his four-day county place at Kent to Adam Riley, who is set to play alongside Cook for MCC against Yorkshire in the Champion County fixture in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. Overall, though, the spin cupboard continues to look worryingly bare.
Chris Woakes, who ended last summer in the Test side, is the other injury doubt after suffering a stress reaction in his left foot during the Bangladesh defeat. Fresh scans this week will provide a better indication of his injury and the Durham fast bowler Mark Wood is understood to be in line for a callup after spending last week working at the academy in Loughborough.
Fraser and Newell are out of the country on pre-season tours with Middlesex and Nottinghamshire respectively, so the selectors will liaise via telephone before the party are disclosed either today or on tomorrow. Conversations will also revolve around the batting, with Jonathan Trott tipped to return after captaining the Lions this winter.
Moores will also make a decision on whether the bowling coach, David Saker, who has agreed to take over as the head coach of the Melbourne Renegades Big Bash side in his native Australia next winter, will go on tour. Saker, who joined the set-up in 2010, had previously told the England and Wales Cricket Board he would not be extending his contract beyond its expiry in September.
Behind the scenes at Lord’s, the new ECB chief executive, Tom Harrison, will meet with the managing director, Paul Downton, for a full debrief on the World Cup debacle. Kevin Pietersen’s name will likely crop up given his stated plan to play county cricket in a bid to win back his England place. A deal at Surrey is expected to go through this week once Pietersen has clearance to pull out of his £205,000 contract to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League.

Mascarenhas to mentor New Zealand bowlers against England
Former England one-day specialist Dimitri Mascarenhas has been appointed the New Zealand bowling coach for their upcoming tour of England.
The 37-year-old, who played 20 ODIs, replaces Shane Bond who leaves the New Zealand coaching panel at the end of the World Cup to take up a role with the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
Mascarenhas, currently coaching the Otago Volts in the New Zealand domestic competition, believed his knowledge of pitches and players in England would be a valuable asset for New Zealand.
“I am newly out of the scene there as a player and I know most of the guys in the current team very well ... and I know all the grounds we are playing at intimately so those factors will be useful in terms of the scouting and bowling plans,” he said.
New Zealand head to England in late May to play two Tests, five ODIs and one Twenty20 with Mascarenhas taking over a bowling unit spearheaded by Trent Boult and Tim Southee, both top-10 ranked Test bowlers and two of the leading World Cup wicket takers.
“Bondy (Shane Bond) has done an extremely good job with his bowling unit; they have operated with real pace, skill and tactical awareness.
“During this World Cup they have been phenomenal and I am looking forward to working with those guys to keep developing them and helping them achieve success on the international stage.”
Mascarenhas, who played the last of his 20 ODIs in 2009, took 13 wickets at 48.76 and averaged 22.27 with the bat.
New Zealand Cricket said a long-term decision on a new bowling coach would be made before the side leaves to tour Zimbabwe and South Africa in late July.