Moeen Ali

Moeen Ali who was born Moeen Munir Ali is an English cricketer who has been a part of England's national Men's cricket team since 2014. He was born in Birmingham 18 June, 1987.

Table of Contents

1. Biography - About Moeen Ali
2. Moeen Ali - Along the Years
3. Records
4. Awards, Accolades and Nominations
5. Career
6. Domestic Career
7. International Career
8. Moeen Ali: Wristband Controversy
9. Moeen Ali : Charity Work
10. Family

Biography - About Moeen Ali

Ali is of Kashmiri descent and it was two generations ago that his grandfather migrated to England. His grandparents lived in Mirpur. His grandmother Betty Cox, was of British origin. Other than English, Moeen can also understand Urdu and Punjabi.

He is often fondly called ‘the beard that's feared’ by his fans at the New Road. Ali's father was a taxi driver, and a psychiatric nurse. He was friends with cricketers Kabir Ali who was also his first cousin, Naqash Tahir, and Rawait Khan and they grew up together on the same street. His brothers Kadeer Ali and Omar Ali are also cricketers.

On the domestic level, Moeen plays first class cricket for Worcestershire. Moeen also plays for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. Moeen is a left-handed batsman and bowls right-arm off spinner.

Ali is widely popular for his beautifully concealed arm ball. Moeen was part of the victorious England squad in the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

Moeen Ali - Along the Years

Year	Age	Achievement
2005	17	First Class Debut for Warwickshire
2007	19	First Class Move to Worcestershire
2014	26	ODI Debut against West Indies
2014	26	T20I Debut against West Indies
2014	26	Test Debut against Sri Lanka
2014	27	T20I World Cup Debut
2015	27	ODI World Cup Debut
2018	30	IPL Debut for Royal Challengers Bangalore
2019	31	Part of the victorious World Cup squad

Records

*Moeen Ali is yet to make substantial records*

Awards, Accolades and Nominations

1. Moeen Ali was nominated for the Best at Sport award at the British Muslim Awards in January 2015.
2. Moeen Ali won Warwickshire's NBC Denis Compton Award consecutively in 2004 and 2005.
3. In 2009, Moeen Ali won Worcestershire’s NBC Denis Compton Award.

Career

Domestic Career

Moeen was signed by Warwickshire at an age of 15. Moeen cemented his place in the team hitting a half-century for the county's Second XI in the early days of his career at Warwickshire. Following which he played U19 cricket against Bangladesh and Indian cricket team.

Moeen made his first class debut in 2005 against Cambridge University. Moeen succeeded to impress with the bat, scoring 57 unbeaten in his only innings. He played his first List A games in 2006. At a List A game against Derbyshire claimed his maiden first-class wicket by dismissing Steffan Jones to claim his maiden first-team wicket.

Ali moved to Worcestershire making his debut for in 2007. He also scored his highest first-class score of 250 against Glamorganfor Worcestershire.

IPL Career

Moeen Ali made his IPL debut with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018. He played well with both the bat and the ball in what turned out to be a disappointing campaign for his team. He was one of the few players retained by the franchise for the 2019 season.

International Career

ODI Career

Ali made his One Day International debut on 28 February, 2014 against the West Indies cricket team. On his debut game, Ali scored 44 runs and even took his maiden ODI wicket. Ali impressed in the third match of the series as well, when he scored his first half-century.

Ali was a part of the England's 2015 World Cup campaign in Australia. Ali scored his first World Cup century in the second match against Scotland, making 128 from 107 balls. However, Ali was ruled out of England's final World Cup game against Afghanistan.

Moeen has been an integral part of England's ODI squad since then. He played a crucial role in England's victorious 2019 World Cup Campaign.

Test Career

Moeen Ali made his Test debut for England against Sri Lanka cricket team in 2014. He was able to meet everyone's expectations when he made 48 runs in the first inning. Moeen was in sublime form in the second Test of the series, when he scored his maiden century and revived a struggling England who were crushed to 57 for 5. Moeen's efforts however ended in a losing cause.

Moeen featured in the Test series against India. At the very first match of the series, Ali took four wickets in the match. Ali proved his worth and cemented his position as a member of England's Test squad.

Over the years Moeen has produced excellent and match-defining performances for England in Tests.

T20 International Career

Ali named in the English Squad for the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh. He made his T20 debut against West Indies.

Moeen being an all-rounder was always preferred in the squad. He has played several crucial knocks and has taken wickets at vital moments of several international T20 matches and is currently one of the highest regarded all-rounders in the World of T20 cricket.

Moeen Ali: Wristband Controversy

Moeen Ali found himself amidst a controversy during day 2 of the third Test match of the 2014 series against India, when he wore "Save Gaza" and "Free Palestine" wristbands in connection to the Gaza conflict. The ICC code bars players from "conveying messages which relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes".

The ECB however came to Ali's support stating that - Moeen's stance was "humanitarian, not political.'' An English Cricket Board spokesman even stated that "the ECB do not believe he has committed any offence". However, ECB's clearance to Moeen to wear the bands were overruled by the match referee David Boon.

Moeen Ali : Charity Work

Moeen Ali is the Ambassador of StreetChance. It is a programme which provides free weekly cricket coaching sessions to deprived areas in the UK. The programme is run by the Cricket Foundation and Barclays Spaces For Sports.

Moeen is also a member of the Orphans in Need NGO and also acts their Global Brand Ambassador. Moeen even carries the charity's logo on his bat.

In one of his interviews, Moeen said-

“I enjoy coming back to the community where I grew up playing tape ball cricket. It keeps you grounded. I hope that, as an ambassador for the charity, I can pass on some useful advice and help inspire children like the ones here today involved in StreetChance. It’s so important that schemes like StreetChance give young people the opportunity to play cricket and to learn key life skills, wherever they’re from, whatever their background."

Family

Moeen Ali is of Indian-Kashmiri decent. It was his grandfather who moved to England two generations ago. Moeen's father Munir Ali is a Psychiatric Nurse. His brothers, Omar Ali and Kadeer Ali are also cricketers and play English County cricket.

Moeen is married to Firoza Hossain. Little is known about his spouse other than the fact that she is perhaps a Bangladeshi, although that also hasn't been confirmed yet.

Moeen is a devout Muslim who abides by the laws of Quran and doesn't smoke or drink alcohol. During his early days of struggle, Moeen found his biggest supporter in his father who used to sell chicken from his Toyota to help him pursue his dream.

Also see - Jos Butler biography

He is a very religious person and his county team of Worcestershire even provided him with a special prayer room. In the past, Moeen has shown concern about British Muslims joining terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda and ISIS and has tried to raise awareness towards the same.

Moeen belongs to a very simple family with strong religious background. After retiring from cricket Moeen wants to own a chip shop and name it 'Big Mo's' and do mosque work.