The next big thing
With Monty Panesar struggling for form and wickets, Bill Day introduces us to Moeen Ali in the Daily Mail , saying Ali could take Panesar’s place as Britain’s multi-cultural cricketing icon.
Tariq Engineer
25-Feb-2013
With Monty Panesar struggling for form and wickets, Bill Day introduces us to Moeen Ali in the Daily Mail, saying Ali could take Panesar’s place as Britain’s multi-cultural cricketing icon.
The product of a cricket-mad Muslim family, the 22-year-old could become a new iconic figure for multi-cultural Britain, attracting the same cult following as Monty Panesar, as England go from the 'Sikh of Tweak' to the new 'Bearded Wonder'.
Moeen was taught the game by his father Munir who, frustrated by the lack of opportunity for Asian and other inner-city kids to break into top-level cricket, teamed up with his brother Shabir to build a net in his back garden, and created the Streets2Arena, a coaching academy in the Midlands that still flourishes.
Their success is such that the family have already produced one England Test player, Shabir's son Kabir Ali, who is now at Hampshire, while Moeen's elder brother, Kadeer, plays for Gloucestershire and his younger brother, Omar, has an MCC Young Cricketers' contract
Tariq Engineer is a former senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo