Ashley Giles has said there is “no doubt” England want Moeen Ali to make a Test comeback but is mindful that a packed international schedule is heaping more pressure on players than ever before.

Moeen, 32, has made himself unavailable for selection in the longer format since the end of last summer and turned down a berth on the Test leg of the South Africa tour that began this week with a two-day warm-up match in Benoni. Writing for the Guardian last week, Moeen said: “It just felt too soon.”

Giles, the director of England cricket, met Moeen in Birmingham on Monday to discuss the break – one that is hoped will freshen up his game – and suggested Ed Smith’s selection panel will remain patient with the player.

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Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Giles said: “We need to work with him and, as much as us picking him, he needs to make sure he’s ready to come back into that environment.

“There is no doubt that we want Moeen back in that environment at some point. He’s shown his abilities at Test and ODI level. Sometimes you just need to take a break from the game and part of that is being able to take time out and work on your cricket but also perhaps rediscovering your love for the game.

“We could have an injury in South Africa and say: ‘Mo, would you? Can you?’ But we have to be careful with that. As much as we want him back he has to be ready as well. So that’s why we have to work with him. We wouldn’t want to put someone back in that spotlight if they didn’t feel they are ready.”

Giles believes a number of England’s all-format players are yet to get the World Cup and Ashes summer out of their systems, but the fixture list makes this problematic. South Africa is the second of three tours this winter, before the Indian Premier League and a home international summer that includes the inaugural edition of The Hundred before a full tour of India during the next off-season that straddles October’s T20 World Cup in Australia.

“The game is stressful full stop for a lot of our guys,” Giles said. “Looking back at the summer, I don’t know whether a lot of our guys have had time to get over it. When you look at what they went through, almost three weeks from the end of the season many were off to New Zealand then into this next year, which is crazy in terms of schedules.

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“We have a psychologist on board all the time, we have a mini-committee within the team who keep player wellbeing as a top priority on the agenda. It’s a really important issue for us and player workloads are going to be really important for us in the next 12 months – we need to be looking right down the track.

“I don’t remember a more pressured time in cricket in terms of looking after your people and the pressure on winning all the time.”