Ashes 2025-26: David Warner called clown by Moeen Ali over Joe Root remark

Moeen Ali, David Warner and Joe Root (Source: Gareth Copley - ECB/ECB via Getty Images, Darrian Traynor/Getty Images and Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images)

With the Ashes 2025–26 series still a few months away, the pre-series banter has already kicked off. Former Australian cricketer David Warner had taken aim at England’s veteran batter Joe Root, despite the latter’s impressive recent form. However, Warner’s comments did not sit well with Root’s former teammate Moeen Ali, who came to his defence while also mocking Warner.

Warner sparked the off-field mind games by highlighting what he sees as a glaring weakness in Root’s game, particularly in Australian conditions. This comes despite Root recently climbing to second place on the all-time Test run-scorer list, behind only the legendary India batter Sachin Tendulkar.

“The big anchor there is Root, who is yet to score a hundred in Australia. I think he will have nightmares before he gets over there about Josh Hazlewood. A bit like me and Broady… [Hazlewood] tends to have his number quite a lot. He will have to take the surfboard off his front leg, that’s where we always targeted him,” Warner had told the BBC a few days back.

The English all-rounder hit back with direct criticism, labelling Warner a bit of a clown and dismissing his remarks as a failed attempt to get into Root’s head. He argued that Root is far too experienced to be rattled by such comments.

“He’s just being Warner. He’s a bit of a clown to be honest with you. He’s trying to, obviously, get into Rooty’s head, which he won’t. He’s not up for the whole banter thing. It’s just Warner, isn’t it?,” he said.

The star England cricketer noted that sledging only works on certain players, and Root’s wealth of experience means it will have no impact on him. He pointed to India’s recent failed attempts to unsettle Root during their just-concluded series, in which the batter still piled on 537 runs at a staggering rate, as proof that such tactics simply do not work against him.

“But Rooty… the guy has scored so many runs now, he’s been through the whole thing and it won’t effect him. India tried it and it just didn’t work, clearly didn’t work, because he scored loads of runs. But yeah, there’s some players you can do that to and others that you can’t,”  Moeen concluded.