Moeen Ali’s empathy for Ashes adversaries should be celebrated

I loved Ali Martin’s interview with Moeen Ali (21 May). Is there a nicer and more genuine international sportsman in the world? I doubt it. His wish for Steve Smith and David Warner to be “treated decently” in particular brought me up short. Having grown up in a cricket-loving family and been swept along in all the rivalry and needle of the Ashes over the years, I confess that I was happy to see their tragic fall as a divine judgment on their hubris. And then here is Moeen reminding us of the real wisdom in classical tragedy (and indeed in all world religions): that we are all human. The chorus in Sophocles’ Antigone speaks of the inevitable fall of those who climb to the heights of power but then reminds us that “the small man lives outside disaster” (line 590). Moeen Ali should be celebrated by all of us as a great man because, even at the top of his game, he can embrace his rivals’ disaster with true empathy. Meanwhile I fear I shall get caught up again in the emotional frenzy of the World Cup and prove myself to be so much less of a man than I wish I was.
Chris Thomas
Milton Abbas, Dorset

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