Asian-origin England internationals in the frame for 2015 Asian Cricket Awards
It has been another remarkable season for British Asians in cricket. Moeen Ali has again blazed a trail, appearing as the cover star and one of five ‘players of the year’ in the legendary cricket almanack Wisden, while Adil Rashid featured strongly in the England side in the one-day series against New Zealand and Australia.
The pair find themselves among no fewer than six players to have represented the national side who are in the running for recognition, as the shortlist is announced for the 2015 Talk Home Mobile Asian Cricket Awards (ACA).
The ACA, which are held in association with the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and supported by the Club Cricket Conference, are open to people with British Asian heritage as well as to those dedicated to increasing Asian participation in British cricket.
Sponsored by Talk Home Mobile, the Awards aim to improve the awareness of the positive impact made by Asians within the British cricket industry and to engage with organisations and individuals to help increase participation. They will be presented at a gala night at Lord’s on Tuesday 13 October.
Categories and frontrunners for the awards
Moeen and Rashid are joined by former England U19s captain Varun Chopra, who has enjoyed a hugely successful season with Warwickshire and the Birmingham Bears, on the shortlist for the prestigious player of the year award.
Another England U19 captain is Haseeb Hameed, a prolific batsman with Lancashire CCC, who is a candidate for the professional young player of the year trophy alongside Kishen Velani and Aadil Ali.
In the women’s game, former England star bowler Isa Guha, now a high-profile writer and broadcaster on the game, is in contention for the media award, while Nottinghamshire all-rounder Sonia Odedra, who made her Test debut in August 2014, is in the hunt for the woman in cricket award.
Other categories for the 2015 Talk Home Mobile Asian Cricket Awards are: Grassroots, Inspiration, Coach of the Year, Behind the Scenes, Asian Team of the Year and the the ECB Diversity Award, while Lifetime Achievement and Founders’ Awards will also be presented on what promises to be a memorable night.
“The quality of nominations was unprecedented,” said Asian Cricket Awards co-founder Jas Jassal BEM of Inventive Sports. “The judging panel had a hugely difficult task in determining the shortlist from so many inspiring candidates from the Asian community in Britain.”
Jane Hannah, national volunteer and participation manager for the ECB, added: “The ECB are delighted to once again be a partner for the awards. The nominees this year showed an amazing amount of dedication, commitment and success in the game from grass roots through to the professional level. It was a real challenge for the judging panel to select a shortlist from so many worthy nominees.”