ENGLAND all-rounder Moeen Ali will be playing with Worcestershire for at least another two seasons.

Director of cricket Steve Rhodes says Worcestershire “are very happy” with Moeen, who is committed to New Road until the end of the 2018 campaign.

A national report last week claimed the 29-year-old is set to leave Worcestershire at the end of this term with Warwickshire leading the chase for his signature.

But the England star admitted he was a little surprised to see his name linked with his former club, as well as Hampshire and Middlesex.

Rhodes said: “When you write articles, I suppose the important details of how long your contract is and how long you’ve got left are really important facts to get right.

“Moeen has two years to run and there’s no way people can put in 28-day requests because it’s against the rules.

“He signed a five-year deal and has another couple of years to run and we are very happy with Moeen as a player.

“We don’t see a great deal of him but that’s fantastic because that means he’s playing for England and long may that continue.”

Birmingham-born Moeen is looking forward to a busy summer with England which includes the ICC Champions Trophy and Test matches with West Indies and South Africa.

Moeen has played 37 Tests, 52 one-day internationals and 22 Twenty20 matches since breaking on to the England scene in February 2014.

He looks set to play for Worcestershire in their second Specsavers County Championship Division Two match against Northamptonshire at New Road, starting on April 21.

Moeen has also been given permission by England to play in Worcestershire’s Royal London One-Day matches against Notts Outlaws, Leicestershire Foxes and Northamptonshire Steelbacks.

“It did surprise me a little bit,” said Moeen, referring to the speculation claiming he was leaving the County.

“It’s nice to be linked with other counties but it’s far away and I have not thought about it at all.

“I’ve got a lot of cricket to play and I am just focusing on that.

“I know I am playing in the second four-day game and then three one-day games for Worcestershire and I am really looking forward to them. After that, it obviously depends on England stuff.

“It’s always exciting coming back to play for Worcester.

"I miss it when I am playing for England and it’s a great place to play. I get on well with the guys and with Bumpy (Steve Rhodes).”

Rhodes said: “Whenever Moeen comes back to play for us he always enjoys being part of our dressing room and we enjoy having him.

“He’s an England player through and through, centrally contracted by England, and a very important part of that dressing room.

“I experienced that when I went out to Bangladesh with England for the two Test matches last winter and it was great to see what an integral part of the England dressing room Moeen was.”