Injury set to restrict Moeen in tour match

Moeen Ali's injured finger will stop him bowling in this weekend's Ashes tour match in Perth.

Moeen, set to captain his country for the first time in the two-day fixture against a Cricket Australia XI at Richardson Park, has decided it is not worth the risk of exacerbating his injury and will play as a specialist batsman only in the two-day contest starting today.

It is a blow to the allrounder's prospects of much-needed improvement with the ball in next week's must-win third Test.

Moeen needs more bowling to get back to his best, having taken just two wickets at 98 runs each in the first two Tests.

By contrast, Lyon has 11 wickets at 22.72 for Australia, who have opened up a 2-0 lead with three Tests to play.

"I probably won't bowl this game - just to give my finger a bit more time," Ali said.

"As a finger spinner, it's the one thing I really need to be 100 per cent.

"I ripped it in the first game and it's not been easy. It just needs to heal.

"As soon as I start bowling it starts to rip a little bit, but it is healing now. I hope another week or at least five or six days will be quite good for it."

As for England's prospects of battling back to retain the urn, Moeen said England's perilous situation has concentrated their minds.

"Yes, definitely," he said. "It has to - otherwise, we're in a struggle for the next three games.

"We've got three games to put it right. Obviously, 2-0 down isn't great – but we still have a chance.

"It's a slight chance, but we've got a good enough team – and we've shown we can compete and hope to get back into this Ashes series."

Moeen also revealed he had been on the receiving end of a racist comment while in the field during the Ashes, though the Englishman described the incident as “nothing major” and just the first example that came to mind about the “chirp” he has encountered on and off the pitch through the series.

“Somebody asked me what time my kebab shop opened, but that is about it,” he said.

"From the crowd you get quite a bit. You get some good ones and you get some not-so-good guys ... but you take it on the chin.”

Follow the tour match live here on cricket.com.au

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test WACA Ground, December 14-18. Tickets

Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30. Tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Tickets

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21