• England captain will contact all-rounder in next couple of weeks • ‘When he’s on form he adds a different dimension to our group’

Joe Root will contact Moeen Ali in the next fortnight to establish whether the all-rounder feels ready to return to Test cricket when England tour South Africa next month.

Moeen, 32, announced he was taking a break from the longer format in September, having been dropped from the first XI after an undercooked showing in the Ashes series opener at Edgbaston and then left off the list of Test central contracts for 2019-20.

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However, the England management were not moving on a senior player with 181 wickets from 60 Test caps, as well as five centuries. The hope instead was his mutually agreed breather might reinvigorate a cricketer whose 186 appearances across all formats since his international debut in 2014 put him behind only Jos Buttler (192) and Root (216) during that period.

Root said: “I see Moeen as someone who can offer a huge amount to this team. He made a decision he wanted a bit of a break from Test cricket and sometimes you do need that. You need to freshen your mind up; keep that hunger and desire.”

The England captain added: “We’ll have that conversation with him again, probably in the next couple of weeks. And if he is in that place, he always adds value to our team. When he’s on form and playing well he offers so much and adds a different dimension to our playing group. He’s got to be comfortable and ready to come back to Test cricket but we’re very open to that, for sure.”

Moeen, who is currently playing in the T10 League in Abu Dhabi under Trevor Bayliss, the former England head coach, retained his white-ball contract but was rested for the Twenty20 series in New Zealand. Ed Smith, the national selector, imposed this break from the international limelight against Moeen’s personal preference, perhaps hoping to expedite his Test return.

It would make sense on a number of levels. As well as a central dressing-room figure in recent times, Moeen had been the leading Test wicket-taker in the world in the year before August’s low-key showing at Edgbaston, where he struggled for control, with Root having already lost Jimmy Anderson to a calf injury on day one.

It came after nearly five months of bowling exclusively with the white ball – bar 26 deliveries in the seam-dominated four-day Test against Ireland at Lord’s – and Jack Leach then took his spot for the remainder of the Ashes series, picking up 12 wickets in four Tests and earning plaudits for his gutsy batting.

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But with England hopeful of Anderson returning for the South Africa tour after a calf problem, there would still be concerns over Leach coming in as high as No 8. It is the spot he would need to occupy if Sam Curran, named as the third seamer for Thursday’s first Test against New Zealand, made way for Anderson.

Then there is England’s third successive overseas tour in March, to Sri Lanka. With doubts over Adil Rashid’s continuation in first-class cricket because of a chronic shoulder problem, Root would be loth to lose two of the three spinners who shared 48 wickets in last year’s 3-0 victory.

Anderson has been working on his fitness in Spain this week with Mark Wood, who missed the back end of the home summer after tearing a side muscle during the World Cup final. The pair are also due to take part in an England fast bowling camp in Potchefstroom, South Africa, from 1-14 December before the Test series.

They will be joined by Olly Stone, recovering from a stress-fracture to the lower back, and Craig Overton, who played in the Old Trafford Ashes Test and has replaced his twin brother, Jamie, who is recovering following an operation to remove a bone spur from his left ankle.

Jonny Bairstow, who has left the New Zealand tour, is also due to attend the camp as he looks to work on his red-ball batting before a possible Test comeback as a specialist batsman. Glen Chapple, the Lancashire head coach, and Neil Killeen, Durham’s bowling coach, will oversee this party.