Gloucestershire
Ali turned down Worcestershire's offer of a new contract for 2005 after being told he could not be guaranteed a place in the first team, and instead signed for Gloucestershire. Tom Richardson, his new county's chief executive, told Cricinfo that he had "huge potential", but a disappointing start to the summer meant that Ali was relegated to the second team by the start of June. Some good performances at that level brought him reinstatement to the First XI, but a final total of 494 first-class runs at 21.47 and 108 List A runs at 21.60 was a rather disappointing return.
2006 was to prove a much better season for Ali: he averaged close to 40 in first-class cricket, and at last hit a century when he struck 145 at Northampton in August, putting on 254 for the third wicket with Hamish Marshall. However, he played only two one-day matches. He was much more involved in that form of the game the following season, and hit two centuries. He also reached three figures twice in first-class cricket, finishing with 903 runs, his best season's aggregate.
After playing several games in April 2008, Ali did not play again for several months, returning to the side only in late June, after a successful appearance for Halesowen Cricket Club against Dorridge Cricket Club in Division One of the Birmingham and District Premier League. When he did return to Gloucestershire's ranks, he enjoyed a fair degree of success with the bat, making three first-class hundreds including a career-best 161 against Northamptonshire in August. In January 2009, he signed to extend his contract with Gloucestershire until 2011, saying he was "delighted" to be doing so as "the club been really good to ". He was released a year early, in 2010.
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