WI vs Eng, 3rd T20I – Moeen Ali: ‘No excuses’ as England’s white-ball fortunes continue to slide

“Obviously disappointing because you want to start winning with the World Cup around the corner in these conditions,” Moeen said, with this series a de facto dress rehearsal for the T20 World Cup that will take place in the Caribbean and USA in six months’ time.

“I thought a lot of the game we played well and then they just smashed two big overs that probably just took the game away from us a little bit…I hate saying there’s a few positives, but there are a few I thought.”

“The great thing about being a very good all-rounder as he is, is you can have a bad day with the ball but you can contribute with the bat and still try to win the game, which he almost did,” Moeen said.

Curran’s half-century partially atoned for a 30-run second over in which West Indies’ skipper Rovman Powell hit him for a four and four sixes in five legal deliveries. Curran did dismiss Powell with his last delivery, but it was well beyond ‘last laugh’ territory as the complexion of the match had changed.

Moeen was seen chatting to Curran mid-over as Powell’s onslaught continued, and explained the gist of it afterwards. “Just be clear, what’s your plan? What’s your Plan B?” he said. “I know he’s lacking a bit of confidence but still, in those situations, you’ve got to be real brave and just try to keep it simple. We’ve got to get better. And it’s not just taking wickets.”

“They bowled really well obviously, they know these conditions, but I still feel for Motie to go for nine off four overs is not good enough from our point of view. At least, I think we can rotate a bit more if we’re not going to take him down.”

Since the start of the World Cup, England have now won four and lost ten of their last 14 matches. It’s a frankly unimaginable situation given the quality and expectation placed on their shoulders after the success of the last eight years.

“We’re not [able to] at the moment,” Moeen said simply, when asked about England’s ability to grab the big moments of matches. West Indies recovered from 54 for 4 in the second game, with England having failed to capitalise on their third highest powerplay score of 77 in the opening game. Instead they lost all ten wickets for 94.

“But there’s still a bit of time to go before the World Cup and we need to get a few things right as a side.

“I mean, there’s still players to come back, obviously with Stokesy, Bairstow and Woody. But there’s no excuse. Everyone’s a good player here – our guys have played quite a bit now in T20.