England's new Test coach McCullum hints at possible return to red-ball duty for Moeen Ali

Moeen, who retired from Test cricket in September 2021, has taken 195 wickets with his off-spin bowling and scored 2,914 runs in 64 Tests. According to a source close to the all-rounder, Moeen intends to make a comeback after speaking to McCullum about his future.

"He (Ali) respects Brendon immensely and would play for him. He's always been committed to England and wishes to continue. He will assist when required," said a source close to Moeen Ali.

When it was put to him that Ali had retired from Test cricket, McCullum said that if the 34-year-old wanted to come out of retirement, then he'll be recalled to the Test side.

"We'll see. I'm sure if Mo (Moeen Ali) wanted to, and was prepared to put the yards in to make it back into the side, then he'd challenge, no doubt."

After a horrible Ashes tour last year, the selectors have seemed to move on from Jos Buttler in the red ball cricket. But, McCullum believes that there's no reason why Buttler or similar white-ball specialists like Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, and Adil Rashid can't replicate their success in the longest version of the game.

"Jos (Buttler) is one of those players you look at instantly and think how could he be so dominant in one form of the game and not quite have found his feet, other than a few fleeting performances, in Test cricket?"

"There's certainly guys you look at and think there's a lot of talent that could improve the side given the right opportunity. There's no reason why, if you're good at T20, you can't bring those skills into Test cricket and you look at some of the guys who have dominated the IPL in the last two months."

"Obviously you've got the likes of (Liam) Livingstone, Moeen (Ali), (Adil) Rashid. All these guys have played international cricket before, been successful in the other forms of the game and you'd think they'd be able to transition across."

Ben Stokes has been appointed as the Test team captain, and McCullum is looking forward to developing the captain-coach relationship with the new skipper.

"I think the captain-coach relationship in cricket is vital. I think there needs to be a really tight bond there. You don't have to be the best of mates, but I think you have to have a real clear sort of vision of where you want the team to go and you both align with that, and then when you have that, then you can try and just fill the gaps."

"It's my job as a coach to fill the gaps for (Ben) Stokes. I want him to be the most authentic person that he can be, and lead the way that he wants to be. There'll be times where I might have to pull him back and times where I might have to push him forward," McCullum added.

After being named the head coach, Brendon McCullum is set to take charge of his first Test series. McCullum is set to go up against New Zealand as the head coach of England in his first assignment and will be ready to make an impression.

England are currently bottom of the World Test Championship (WTC) and are almost certainly out of the reckoning to make the final next year.