MOEEN Ali is back in the England Test side after a five-month absence.

The Worcestershire all-rounder has been named in the team for the fourth Test with India at Southampton's Ageas Bowl starting on Thursday (11am).

The 31-year-old made his previous appearance in his 50th Test against New Zealand at Auckland in late March.

Up until that point Moeen had only missed one Test through injury in the West Indies since making his debut in June 2014.

He was not included in the side selected for the two-game series with Pakistan and the opening three games of the series with India.

But Moeen has been pushing his claims for a recall with a series of impressive performances for Worcestershire.

He picked up eight wickets in the home County Championship Division One match with Somerset.

Then last week Moeen scored 219 and collected another eight wickets, including 6-49 in the second innings, in the victory over Yorkshire at Scarborough.

He has to date scored 2,495 Test runs and taken 133 wickets including 6-67 against India in the win at the Ageas Bowl in 2014.