Bigstarcricket will be publishing a series of interviews with players to keep an eye on in 2008 - starlets who could be the Test and ODI stars of tomorrow. We begin our series with Moeen Ali.

Former England captain at representative level Moeen Ali, cousin of England seamer Kabir, has the pedigree to become an England batsmen over the next two seasons. He enjoyed his breakthrough year with Worcestershire in 2007, scoring a one-day century off just 46 balls against Northamptonshire. Bigstarcricket spoke to this exciting and emerging talent.

How did your winter go?
My winter went alright, but started a bit slow. I went to India with the England Lions and before that I spent three weeks at Loughborough, which was good as I did a lot of fitness work, batting, bowling etc. In India I didn’t get a game but it was a good trip.

What did you learn from your time in India?
I learned about myself really, sticking in there when things weren’t going that well as I wasn’t playing and would have liked more opportunities. It was a quiet trip for me.

Did you spend much time with Martyn Moxon, who was the batting coach on that trip?
Yeah he was another good person to talk to about batting as he has played a lot himself. I had never met him before so it was good to speak to him. He gave me tips about opening the batting in one-dayers and though his style of batting was different to mine he told me how he went about batting and what I need to do for my game. I did quite a bit with him. 

What did you do this side of the New Year?
I went to South Africa on my own to play for a club side out there, which is the best thing I have ever done. I was at a brilliant club called St. Augustines (a former club of Worcetershire and England batsman Basil D’Oliveira). I did very well there, batted well scoring four hundreds and two fifties, bowled well, we won the league and because I was doing so well the Province side - the Cape Cobras - picked me in their one-day team but the South African board wouldn’t let me play. But it was still good to be recognised like that. Those nine weeks was the best cricket I have ever played. I wanted to get into good habits of making the most of good starts and the four centuries showed I was able to do that.

Are you much of a bowler?
I bowl right-arm off-spin and have done for a while now but it’s very difficult breaking through nowadays as normal offie so I am trying to work on variations. It is quite tough when you are concentrating on your batting but I do realise that I could get into the England side quicker if I have bowling as part of my game.

You mentioned Martyn Moxon before helping you with regards to opening the batting. Is that the position you see for yourself?
I bat three in the one-dayers here and I speak to Hicky (Graeme Hick) a lot about that position because of the amount of time he batted there for England and Worcestershire. I don’t think I would open, in the Championship side I see myself anywhere between three and seven. I’m happy to bat anywhere.

Have you had any indication from the coach Steve Rhodes about whether you will start in the Championship team?
A little, if I’m being honest I don’t think I will start in the team purely because we have one of the best top six batting line-ups with Mitchell and Moore opening, Vikram Solanki at three, Ben Smith at four, Hicky at five and Davo (Steven Davies) at six. It’s going to be difficult to get into that side but I will wait for my turn.

Last season went really well for you in terms of your one-day performances, especially the century you scored in the NatWest Pro40 against Northamptonshire off just 46 balls (with 6 sixes and 14 fours)?
In one-day cricket I have always enjoyed playing the way I want to play, expressing myself and enjoying it. In four-day cricket I enjoy the battle and the patience side of it. I feel more like a batter and on top of my game in four-day cricket but in the one-day stuff you can get away with playing a few more big shots. It’s still brilliant and I do love playing the one-day stuff. I just want to keep scoring more and more hundreds.   

Do you have any regrets leaving Edgbaston as you are a Birmingham lad?
It was a difficult decision but the best decision I have made as I am very happy here at Worcestershire. It’s more like a family club to me and I have settled in nicely. Edgbaston was good as well and I think Warwickshire will do well with the new team management they have now with Ashley (Giles), Allan (Donald) and Dougie (Brown). I left because of lack of opportunities and I felt the reason I was not playing was political. Don’t get me wrong it’s a great club but at that time with (Mark) Greatbatch in charge I wasn’t happy at all and I had to leave. I don’t know why he didn’t play me or batted me so low. Maybe if Ash and Allan were there then I wouldn’t have left.  

You have a great pedigree with England Under-19s and Under 15s. With this background you must have high hopes of an England career?
Yeah but it will only come through working hard. There is a big difference between county cricket and international cricket so I will have to prove that I can make the step-up. Hopefully I will have a big career and it’s through watching players like Hicky, who has been so consistent over the years, that will help me to learn what it takes to get there.

You seem to regard Graeme Hick as a great role model to follow and learn from?
Definitely, he tells me a lot of stories about when he was playing Test cricket and even on domestic cricket. I listen to him a lot as he’s a brilliant player and a good player to watch. Benny (Ben Smith), Vikram, Hicky and Gareth Batty are all good pro’s and are good to learn from. When you see them train you know they are training for a specific reason or working on a certain part of their game. They really know their game and that’s something I want to be able to do.

You have quite an unique family in county cricket with your brother Kadeer opening the batting at Gloucestershire and your cousin Kabir opening the bowling at Worcestershire. What was it like growing up in that group?
There’s another brother as well now, Omar Munir, who is on a scholarship programme here.

Great, so what was it like being raised in this cricket-mad family?
I enjoy it a lot and I think we all do. We love talking about our cricket and it’s brilliant when we play against Kadeer and playing with Kabir is a big thing for me as well. We used to go to the local park and train a lot as kids, or play in the garden. We were always pretending to be somebody else. I was usually Sanath Jayasuriya, Saeed Anwar or Marcus Trescothick now and then. Even bowling I wanted to be Saqlain or Waqar or Courtney Walsh when playing with a tennis ball years ago.

In terms of playing international cricket for real, have you been encouraged with how Peter Moores seems to be keen to blood the younger talent like Phil Mustard, Luke Wright and Stuart Broad in the England team?
I definitely see the opportunity being there. If you do well, you’re in I think. My game at the moment is suited to one-day cricket and if I had a couple of good years hopefully it will come. But at the moment I just want to get into the Worcestershire team regularly.

Moeen Ali was speaking to Richard Sydenham at Worcester

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