Moeen Ali returns to fire up Dartmouth’s centenary

The club are celebrating their 100th season of cricket at Dartmouth Park and the England and Worcestershire all-rounder has agreed a family reunion at his former club.

Moeen’s brother Kadeer, who is vice-captain at Dartmouth this season, set the wheels in motion for his younger sibling’s return and they will be joined by their other brother Omar.

And in keeping with the family theme, their cousin – ex-Worcestershire and England one-day international Kabir – has also agreed a switch back to the Birmingham League club.

Ian Stevenson will skipper the side this summer and he is hoping the family link may encourage Moeen, who has made over 100 one-day appearances for England and played in 60 Tests and 28 T20s, to make a few more appearances.

“Moeen has said he will come and play a few games for us,” said wicketkeeper Stevenson, who has swapped leadership roles with Kadeer.

“It will be exciting to see what he does when he plays and it will obviously generate a lot of interest.

“We are waiting to learn when he will be available. It won’t be at the start of the season because of his IPL commitments.

“It’s great news for the club. You don’t normally get current international cricketers playing in the league.

“It came about thanks to his brother Kadeer. Omar and Kabir have signed for us, as well as one of Mo’s best friends, Valeed Butt. Kadeer asked if he would be interested and he said yes.

“I have known Mo for a long time. We played at Dartmouth together a good few years ago and were also part of the Warwickshire youth set-up, along with Omar and Valeed.

“There is no side whatsoever to Mo. He just enjoys playing cricket and he wants to play some games with his family and friends.

“Hopefully he will enjoy it when he gets out in the middle and then perhaps he may play a few more games for us.”