Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid: How England's spin twins became inseparable

Their parents grew up 14 miles apart - half a century later, on the other side of the world, their sons have forged a special bond. Jonathan Liew met the duo for the latest issue of Wisden Cricket Monthly

England spin bowlers Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali (Getty Images)

It’s only 14 miles, as the crow flies, from Dadyal to Mirpur in the Azad Kashmir region of northern Pakistan, where Abdul Rashid and Munir Ali were both brought up. Half a century later, on the other side of the world, their sons have forged the sort of bond that is only really possible in Britain: one based on shared culture as much as shared vocation, where faith and family are never far from the surface.

When did you first meet?

Adil Rashid: We first met playing against each other in the county under 13s. We’ve been good friends ever since. Then we played with each other for England – under 15s, under 19s, Lions. For the four or five years since we’ve been in the England squad together, we’ve got a lot closer.

Why do you think you get on so well?

Moeen Ali: Similar backgrounds.

AR: Similar characters, in terms of how we’ve been brought up. Sometimes you just click, don’t you? We understand each other really well.

MA: Even our parents are from the same place back home. We speak the same language.

Rashid and Moeen have been close for years (Getty Images)

Are your families close?

AR: They were, in our younger days. We had brothers who played against each other in the age groups. But as you get older, you get more independent and you go your own ways. Our upbringings were very, very similar. Cricket related to everything from a young age.

Who was the better player growing up?

AR: It’s hard to say.

MA: Rash was always the guy that people spoke about. As a quality leggie and someone who could bat. And someone who played so much first-class cricket so early.

What was Mo like as a teenager?

AR: Well obviously, people… change. [Both laugh.] Fairly quiet, hard-working, likes to have a laugh.

And Mo, how would you have described Rash?

MA: A bit cheeky. I don’t know what the word is... not a rebel, but great fun. The term I’d use is a bit loose. As in, very carefree. You never had that many responsibilities. You don’t have real lives, you don’t have kids, you haven’t settled down. As he’s got older, he’s matured. Religion’s played a big part. We’d always had a little bit of that in our lives, but not really followed it much. As we got older, we both decided to change.

Both were part of a successful summer with England (Getty Images)

So religion played a bigger part in your life as you got older?

AR: One hundred per cent. As you mature, you learn more about yourself, about what you want and need. As Muslims, we try to do certain things. We pray five times a day, we help each other out.

Is it a slightly daunting experience walking into a dressing room where nobody else looks like you?

MA: It’s more like when we walk in, we walk in together. Like, if you invite one of us for dinner, we’re both coming. It’s never only Rash, or only Mo. It’s Rash’n’Mo. So when someone invites Rash for dinner, I’ll be there as well, and the other way round. We’re so used to just doing everything together. It doesn’t feel like we’re different. We get involved with most of the banter. Most of the time, we probably start it.

AR: And we’ve been around for a little while now. Everybody understands us, knows how we work.

So how much easier is it when there’s somebody else in the dressing room who knows your culture, who knows your journey?

MA: Massively. When we get picked, we want to be picked together.

AR: Time flies when you’re in good company.

Do people ever take the mickey?

AR: They used to. But now they don’t say anything. They encourage it.

Jonathan Liew is a columnist for Wisden Cricket Monthly. Click here to buy the October issue for a special price of £1.99

(Wisden (Wisden)