da doce： Moeen Ali’s unbeaten 155 was the sort of innings to make hearts beat faster, as well as a reminder that statistics only tell half a tale

da esport bet： George Dobell at Chester-le-Street28-May-2016Do you remember the moment you fell in love with cricket?Everyone will have a different experience but, for those of us of a certain age, the sight of David Gower playing a cover driver was the gateway drug to a lifelong affair that has endured long after other loves have dulled or departed.Gower didn’t really drive the ball. He didn’t even persuade it. With the most gentle forward movement, he more suggested the ball might like to speed to the boundary and, as enamoured with him as everyone else, it seemed only too happy to oblige. If you judged Gower by stats you missed the point; you judged him more by the purrs of pleasure he generated. Was he great or very good? Who cares: he was beautiful.But there is a danger, in the business of analysing a day’s cricket, that we forget such fundamental pleasures. There is a danger that, with our caveats and our context, we crush the joy out of the moment and lose sight of the bigger picture: cricket is entertainment; it’s meant to be fun.Moeen Ali reminds us of this. It is perfectly reasonable that critics look at his statistics – a bowling average approaching 40 and a batting average that was, before this match, under 30 – and presume he is, by the lofty standards of Test cricket, a relatively mediocre player.But then he plays like this. He drives and cuts and pulls with such sweet timing, he brings up his century with a gloriously uncomplicated lofted drive for four over mid-off, he brings up his 150 with a flicked six over midwicket. And he tells you afterwards with a bashful grin that “it was nice”.His first fifty, coming with England in danger of being dismissed for somewhere between 300 and 350, took 109 balls. His second took 43 and his third just 41. Despite eight men on the boundary, despite turning down singles, he played with such overwhelming dominance, timed the ball so crisply and demonstrated such an array of strokes that it seemed preposterous that he has scored so few Test runs.

“I am quite loose but I don’t really care”Moeen Ali

Yes, he was dropped twice. Yes, on this docile pitch he was hardly tested by the short ball that has caused him discomfort in the past. And yes, there are probably quite a few batsmen in county cricket who, given 25 Tests, might score a couple of centuries.But not many of them would have taken 65 wickets with their offspin. And not many of them would have lit up a dispiritingly uncompetitive day’s cricket – Moeen rated Sri Lanka’s tactics as both “strange” and “perfect” for England – in a dispiritingly uncompetitive series with such a glorious display of strokeplay. On an increasingly sluggish pitch on which nobody else can time the ball, Moeen evoked memories of Gower. There isn’t much higher praise.And, just as you don’t want to be person at a wedding who mutters “40% of these things end in divorce, you know; the rest of them end in death,” so you don’t want to be person who applies reason to rainbows and sunsets and Moeen’s batting. Modern sport hasn’t become so results oriented that all the joy has been driven out.His fragility is part of the charm of Moeen. Oh, yes. It will infuriate at times. But, what’s that line about never feeling more alive than when you’re on the brink of death? Well, there’s an element of that to Moeen’s batting. He will probably always have a weakness outside off stump in the way that George Best always had a weakness for a night out. The slip cordon will always be in business; the bowler will always feel he has a chance. As he put it: “I am quite loose but I decided today, I don’t really care.”Can you imagine Alastair Cook saying that? But while Cook is all about the bottom line and practicalities, Moeen is all about feel and touch. He is the DeLorean to Cook’s Volvo. His batting offers charm more than security; joy more than insurance. In a pragmatic world, he bats like an artist.He doesn’t mean to, of course. When he made a century in his second Test, he impressed with his discipline outside off stump. Steeped in the skills of a top-order batsman from the moment he was old enough to pick up a bat, he batted like the No. 3 he is for Worcestershire.But, somewhere along the way, he has learned some bad habits. Knowing he will often be left with the tail, knowing he has limited time to make runs, he has lost the rhythm that defines so many good batsmen and instead started searching for the ball. Often he has not given himself time – or circumstance has not given him time – to build an innings. So instead of the elegant drives or effortless pulls, he has fallen to some ugly heaves and unworthy hacks.He believes the mentality of batting at No. 8 has been responsible for his decline. That and the decision to demote him in the limited-overs side after he had scored two centuries as opener. Confidence undercut by batting with men who grew-up as bowlers, he has increasingly batted like a tailender. Just as Ben Stokes was backed for the No. 6 position in the belief that he would react positively to the extra responsibility, so Moeen has reacted negatively to the lack of responsibility. The promotion to No. 7 for this match “definitely” helped him, he said. “It’s just not the same.”A lot may be made of his average at No. 7 – an eye-watering 276.00 – compared to his average at No. 8 of 29.33 from 18 innings. But he has batted just three times and been dismissed only once at No. 7. It is too small a sample size to draw conclusions. Besides, he averages just 21.00 in 11 innings at No. 6.Moeen Ali’s second Test hundred left England in complete control•Getty ImagesThere is little scope for promoting him at present. Jonny Bairstow looks a more complete batsman and Ben Stokes is a special cricketer who can win games with bat or ball. His average may never show it but then Stokes is a far from average cricketer.Realistically, Moeen has to get used to batting at No. 8. While it might not help England get the best out of him, it is a team game and individuals have to compromise for the general good. Perhaps, in Asia later this year, he may move up the order again to make space for another spinner. But, generally, this isn’t such a terrible dilemma for England. They have wrestled with far more troubling problems in recent years than a surfeit of good middle-order batsmen.It may pain Sri Lanka supporters to know that Moeen credits watching Kumar Sangakkara for his improved form. Struck by Sangakkara’s high back lift and “rhythm” of his trigger movements earlier this season, Moeen went home that night and practised in front of the mirror using the same technique. “I watched two balls and just tried to copy him, really,” he said.”I feel like I’m getting it back,” he said. “I owed the team a score. But, coming in at No. 7, you can put your batting mind on and contribute with a big score.”He is quietly putting together a decent career. During the day, he became the fifth-fastest England player to reach the milestone of 1000 runs and 50 wickets in Test cricket. All four of those who did it quicker – Ian Botham, Tony Greig, Trevor Bailey and Ben Stokes – are widely respected allrounders. He’s in pretty good company.Cricket isn’t just about winning. And it’s not just about stats. It’s about joy and feeling and pleasure every bit as much. And, one day way in the future, long after they have forgotten the scores, the drops or even the result, those fortunate enough to have been at Chester-le-Street on Saturday will look back and be glad that they saw Moeen Ali bat.