'Are You Criticising My Captaincy?': Alastair Cook And Moeen Ali Involved In Awkward On-Air Clash

Former England teammates Alastair Cook and Moeen Ali have been involved in a very frosty exchange live on-air.

BT Sport viewers were left squirming in their seats at the sheer awkwardness when Ali appeared to take aim at Cook's player-management skills during his time as England skipper.

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The duo were on hand to provide punditry for the fourth Ashes test in Sydney when Joe Root's captaincy became the topic of conversation.

Ali, who has played under both Root and Cook, came out to bat for the under-fire Root before taking a cheeky dig at the bloke sitting next to him.

"Rooty has a bit more of an emotional attachment with the players, he spends more time with the players," Ali said.

This drew a reaction out England's all-time leading run-scorer in Test match cricket.

Cooked asked: "Are you just criticising my captaincy?"

To which all-rounder Ali replied: "I am a little bit, yeah. They're both very different. I did do better with the bat under Cooky but with the ball I was better with Rooty."

But Cook wasn't having a bar of it.

"I have to say, I never dropped Mo," he said.

"So he might criticise me but I never dropped him. How many times did Rooty drop you?"

But Ali fired right back, saying: "That's true, but he also batted me from one to nine in my first year of international cricket."

The BT Sport presenter did his best to restore order and keep things cordial, but you could cut the tension in the studio with a knife.

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"To go back to my point, Rooty was a little bit more involved with the players, in my opinion. Not that Cooky didn't care but I think Rooty is a bit more of a 'arm over the shoulder' kind of guy," Ali added.

Cook tried hard to joke about it, but you could see the shock plastered all across his face.

"I'm not sure how to take this anymore," he said.

"I've just come back from a nice holiday and I've walked straight into Moeen Ali off his long run."

Topics: Cricket, ashes, England, Cricket News, Australia, Cricket, ashes, England, Cricket News, Australia

Max Sherry

Max Sherry is a journalist for SPORTbible Australia. After migrating Down Under from London as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with Aussie sport and its culture. From NRL to AFL, cricket to rugby — you name it, Max watches it (with a beer in hand, of course). During his time at Fox Sports, he worked in the football department covering the Premier League, A-League, Socceroos and Matildas. Born a stone's throw away from West Ham's training ground, Max is obviously a die-hard Liverpool fan.

@maxysherry