That's a lot of sixes, but I hit the biggest – Moeen

Graeme Swann says the addition of Jofra Archer has given England’s attack the balance it needed (3:04)

Friendly competition to score the quickest centuries and hit the biggest sixes is driving England’s batsmen during the World Cup, according to Moeen Ali.

Eoin Morgan set a new ODI record by hitting 17 sixes in his innings in Manchester last week. But while he may have hit the most, his team-mates left him in no doubt that theirs were bigger and that his 57-ball century was “a bit slow” by comparison to their own. Three men in England’s top seven – Moeen, Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler – have hit quicker ODI centuries.

And that competition – combined with plenty of hard work – is rendering England “almost unstoppable” according to Moeen.

“We were a bit surprised by the numbers the other day,” Moeen, who once made a 53-ball century against West Indies, said. “We were like ‘that’s a lot of sixes’. But I told him I hit the biggest. The first one off Rashid Khan was the biggest.

“When players go past 53 balls then I can always say ‘yeah, it’s a great knock but still a bit slow for my liking.’ I’m always hoping they don’t push me further down the list.

“We always talk about stuff like that. Jos came back after scoring 120 and I told him I’d hit the shot of the day. We have a bit of banter about it.

“We’re just having a lot of fun and ripping each other all the time. We get stuck into each other about everything: about the football or about Fifa. Anything. It’s all part of team bonding. It’s all very natural.”

While the team may good-naturedly compete for such accolades there is, according to Moeen, an acceptance that one man stands out.

“Buttler is the biggest hitter,” Moeen says. “With ease. Some guys – like Jonny Bairstow – are brutal. Jason Roy is absolutely about power and Morgan does hit big sixes.

“In the nets, Joe Root hits the most sixes. He tries to take us down all the time. I think everyone is capable of hitting big sixes and I think I’m the best of all of them. But Jos is the one guy that everyone knows is out front. Jos is power with timing.

“But the serious side is that we work hard on it. You can’t just rock up and start hitting sixes for fun, you have to practice it and work on it.

“As a team, once we get going, I’m sure everybody thinks that we’re almost unstoppable. When Jos, Morgs, Jason… we have some many players, almost everybody in the top eight. Who can do it. Once they get going, it’s almost unstoppable. That’s the great thing about the team.”