It was the emphasis that was telling. Alastair Cooks stressing of the word this in the sentence Moeen Ali is our first-choice spinner for this game told us more than the words used.It wasnt quite a last chance warning, but it wasnt far from it.Moeen cannot have too many complaints. He has only passed 25 twice in seven Tests (though one of those was a pleasing century at Chester-le-Street less than two months ago) this year and he is averaging 92.00 with the ball in the same period. Even a larger sample size, going back to the start of 2015, is not flattering: he averages 29.23 with the bat and 47.86 with the ball. He has never been dropped in his Test career - though he has missed games for other reasons - but he goes into the Old Trafford game needing a performance to ensure he in the side for his home Test at Edgbaston.It is possible that England will go into the second Investec Test with two spinners. But, bearing in mind that they have not won a game at home with two specialist spinners since 1985 (and the spinners bowled one over between them in the final innings), bearing in mind that Joe Root was bowling more than usual in training, bearing in mind how well Pakistan play spin - Adil Rashid averaged 69.50 with the ball in the series in the UAE - and that approach seems unlikely. Besides, Manchester has been overcast since England named their XII with a view to seeing how the pitch developed in the next 12 hours.Rashid has impressed in training, though. He bowled Gary Ballance (deceived in the flight and losing his middle stump as a consequence) in the nets on Thursday and then took the edge of Chris Woakes bat. As Woakes played Yasir Shahs legspin as well as anyone at Lords, that is a decent effort. Hes coming along nicely, Cook said. He is improving all the time and he bowled really nicely in the nets today.In current form, Rashid is not miles behind Moeen as a batsman, either. He may be unorthodox and he may have been the No. 11 in Englands recent white-ball teams, but he has 10 first-class centuries to his name and, crucially, he has a confidence in his game that Moeen does not.Moeen looks a little lost at present. He has paid for his versatility and the failure of the English system to produce spin bowlers. He doesnt quite know what he is or how he should play. The natural confidence he once had in his batting has evaporated. The bits and pieces allrounder tag sits uncomfortably on a man who once oozed class as a batsman.He has become confused in his role - especially batting in the low middle-order and being asked to produce aggressive cameos with the tail for company - and lost some of the mentality and rigour that a top-order batsman should possess. His selflessness, a quality that is respected by his colleagues, has led to him selling his wicket too cheaply, too often. Thats a bad habit for a batsman.But he has had opportunities. There have been times when he has been asked to bat higher up the order - notably when he opened in the UAE - and times when he has had the opportunity to build innings with recognised batsmen. He has not taken many of those opportunities.In early Tests, he benefited from the opposition underestimating him as a bowler. Remember Steve Smith and Michael Clarke in the first innings in Cardiff? At times, batsmen seemed to want to hit him out of the attack and sacrificed their wickets in the process.But then they learned better. They learned not just that he is a dangerous bowler armed with drift and flight, but that he bowled enough loose deliveries that there was no need to go after him; if they waited, the release ball would come along soon enough.His doosra, one of the attributes that made his package of skills attractive to the selectors, has become almost irrelevant. With the ICC cracking down on bowling actions, Moeen became reluctant to bowl it in matches (even though there has never been a whisper of a suggestion that his action is suspect and even though few could see any change of action between his offbreak and doosra) and, as a result, practised it less often in the nets.He did not, by any means, bowl badly at Lords. It was more that he bowled against very good players of spin on a pitch that offered him nothing. Many spinners would have paled by comparison next to Yasir Shah.But Moeen has struggled to come to terms with the fact that, even bowling well, there are times when he faces batsmen who are too good for him. And, while he might vary his pace a little more in such circumstances, there are times when a player hits a ceiling; when their best isnt good enough.Again, he is paying the price for others faults here. In a richer playing age, Moeen would not have played almost 30 Tests as a first-choice spinner. But English cricket has made a fearful mess of its spin development and it will take time to get it back on track. Moeen really is among the best there is at present but in trying to be something he may not quite be to gain his chance in Test cricket he may have sacrificed his real talent.The team management have a choice of trying to make him feel secure and valued - as they clearly have - or allowing him to regain some form and confidence in county cricket. They also know that, when Rashid does get his chance, he will soon be put under the same pressure. Bowlers of his pace are rare in international cricket and, while he probably turns the ball more than Yasir, he does not have the same accuracy.Whatever happens over the next few days, though, it may well remind us of the adage that players reputations often improve for not playing. The selectors have come in for some fearsome bashing in recent days - much of it unfair - but it might be worth reflecting on how they would be perceived right now if James Anderson had played at Lords against medical advice and sustained an injury.Writing in the Telegraph, Michael Vaughan claimed he decided to go into Tests with a 50 percent fit Andrew Flintoff on several occasions. Thats the Andrew Flintoff who was obliged to retire from Test cricket aged 31 and whose last few years in the game were blighted by injuries. Maybe playing him when unfit wasnt so clever, after all? Thankfully, Anderson is treated as the precious, but increasingly fragile, asset that he is. Cheap College Jerseys From China . Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. Cheap NCAA Jerseys China . The phone hearing is scheduled for 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt. 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HOMESTEAD, Fla. --?Tony Stewart doesnt plan to compete in another Sprint Cup race after Sunday as he has a diverse plan for life after driving at NASCARs top level.From immediate plans to replace his cellphone that he believes was stolen Thursday to future plans of what sprint-car races he runs, Stewart has too much to do to think about racing a Cup car again, even in a substitute role. He doesnt anticipate doing a Jeff Gordon?-- who has run eight races in a substitute role for Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.?-- even if one of his Stewart-Haas Racing drivers needs a replacement.Im good. This is it. This is the last one, Stewart said before practice Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. I think I learned a lesson from Jeff. Jeff tried to do somebody a favor this year and got roped into running half the season.Thank you, Jeff, for teaching me a lesson. ... Were going to be busy. I dont have a schedule set [for] next year, but I just know the things that Im planning, my schedule next year is going to be much busier than it already is this year.Stewart enters the end of his 18th season Sunday with three championships and 49 victories. He is 15th in the Cup standings this year.Id be lying if I said I wasnt disappointed that I hadnt won a Daytona 500, a Southern 500 and most of all an Indy 500, said Stewart, who has ruled out a return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I look at it, and I look at where I was when I was 15 years old and 18 years old. I never even thought I would get a chance to race those three races let alone in all three of them have opportunities to have won the race.Stewarts final Cup weekend didnt start off all that great. He said he was at a carnival and was about to leave when he realized his cellphone was missing.We had bumped into some people ... and Im fairly certain thats when it went in a different direction, he said. It was kind of ffun because they have that find my iPhone app, and we went chasing people forever until we realized they were in the parking lot and they got in the car and they were gone.ddddddddddddI hit block on it and deleted it, and now Ive got to get a new phone, which is devastating. I do everything off of my cellphone. My life is on that cellphone. I start my life over tomorrow.Stewart doesnt have any plans for a huge send-off. He said he will get 25 helmets from other drivers, including the helmet Carl Edwards wore when Stewart beat him for the Cup title by winning the 2011 season finale at Homestead.I keep my helmets, Edwards said. I dont keep much. I keep my helmets and my suits, and so theyre special to me.Tony expressed how special helmets are to him. ... I hope he knows, and I think he does, how special that is for me. I dont think Ive ever given away one of my race helmets to anyone, so that was pretty cool.The gift giving Friday at Homestead included a gun. When Richard Petty won his 200th race, Petty Enterprises had 200 guns made to commemorate the victory. Petty kept the first one made and the 43rd. On Friday, he gave the first gun to Stewart. The other guns belong to Petty Enterprises team members.About the only thing better that Stewart could get this weekend would be his old cellphone.Its been a hell of a start to the weekend to get your phone stolen, Stewart said. Probably the biggest thing that was disappointing last night when I realized my phone was stolen was the fact I was in the process of answering text messages from people.I got a flood of text messages yesterday. ... People I havent talked to for a long time, people that are friends that I havent seen or heard from for a long time, [have] reached out. Its been pretty cool. ' ' '