ENGLAND and Worcestershire all-rounder Moeen Ali capped a memorable summer by being named Player of the Year at the 2014 Talk Home Mobile Asian Cricket Awards at Lord’s on Tuesday evening, which was attended by The Cricket Paper’s Neil Wooding, Joshua Peck and David Emery.
Ali made his one-day international debut in the West Indies in February and was called up by England for the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh in March and April.
He was subsequently selected for the full Test side for the summer tours by Sri Lanka and India, scoring an unbeaten 108 to almost save the second Test against Sri Lanka, as well as career-best figures of 6-67 in the third Test against India.
“It doesn’t get any better than this,” said the 27-year-old from Birmingham, who beat fellow England players Ravi Bopara and Adil Rashid to the award.
“I feel very proud and priviliged to be here. It’s a fantastic achievement for the Asian Cricket Awards to be at the home of cricket.
“I’ve had a great year. It’s been fantastic, I’ve loved and cherished every minute of it. Hopefully I can keep it up for a few more years.
“I felt honoured to be in the top four for this award, and I am very proud to be the first guy to win the Asian Cricket Awards Player of the Year.”
Ali is set to be a big part of England’s 2015 World Cup plans and you can get some great odds on England’s chances in cricket betting.
Elsewhere, former England captain Nasser Hussain OBE picked up a special Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to cricket, while other winners on the night included the Middlesex and England Lions bowler Ravi Patel, who won the Young Player of the Year Award, and Worcestershire player and coach Salma Bi, who picked up the Woman in Cricket Award.
Full list of winners for the 2014 Talk Home Mobile Asian Cricket Award:
GRASSROOTS AWARD (sponsored by Diageo) Winner: Gopi Raj (England Tamil Cricket League) Also shortlisted: Omar Chaudhery (Sandwell Cricket League), Saba Nasim (Essex Cricket Board, StreetChance)
AMATEUR PLAYER OF THE YEAR (sponsored by Sky Express) Winner: Simran Panesar (Warwickshire U19s) Also shortlisted: Bilal Mohammed (Uxbridge CC), Kyme Tahirkheli (Yorkshire U15s)
PROFESSIONAL YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR (sponsored by Air India) Winner: Ravi Patel (Middlesex, England Lions) Also shortlisted: Kishen Velani (Essex)
WOMAN IN CRICKET (sponsored by Natco Foods Ltd) Winner: Salma Bi (Worcestershire) Also shortlisted: Sidra Khan (Gloucestershire), Bhumika Doshi (Lancashire)
COACH OF THE YEAR (sponsored by England & Wales Cricket Board) Winner: Qasim Ali (Lancashire South Asian Talent Search, England Physical Disability Squad) Special acknowledgement: the late Numan Shabbir Syed (B.M.E. Development Centres director)
MEDIA (sponsored by Getty Images) Winner: Isa Guha (IPL TV presenter, former England bowler) Also shortlisted: Mihir Bose (author, London Evening Standard, BBC), Nikesh Rughani (BBC Five Live, Sky Sports, BBC Asian Network)
BEHIND THE SCENES (sponsored by International FX) Winner: Amjad Aziz (vice-chairman Birmingham Cricket League – Parks League) Also shortlisted: Yasin Patel (groundsman Batley CC), Sajid Patel (founder, National Cricket League)
ASIAN CRICKET CLUB OF THE YEAR (sponsored by Waitrose) Winner: London Tigers (inner-city London) Also shortlisted: Attock CC (Birmingham), Manningham CC (Bradford)
INSPIRATION AWARD (sponsored by British Asian Trust) Winner: Naz Khan (chairman, Attock CC) Also shortlisted: Soyfur Rahman (founder, StreetChance) Special acknowledgement: the late Farid Karolia (founder Mount CC, former chairman Batley CC)
PROFESSIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR (sponsored by Talk Home Mobile) Winner: Moeen Ali (Worcestershire and England) Also shortlisted: Varun Chopra (Warwickshire), Ravinder Bopara (Essex and England), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire and England)
THE FOUNDERS – SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD Winner: Wasim Khan MBE
THE FOUNDERS – LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Winner: Nasser Hussain OBE
