Moeen Ali is to be honoured for his services to the game of cricket with an OBE. To mark the Jubilee year and a remarkable 70 years of service, HM The Queen ’s Jubilee Birthday Honours List sees those across the UK awarded for their excellent contributions to their respective crafts and wider society.
Ali made his England debuts in all three formats in 2014, and played for the Test side until 2021. He was also part of the England team that won the nation's first ODI Cricket World Cup in 2019. In September 2020, the all-rounder captained England for the first time in a T20I match against Australia in Southampton.
He became the first Asian-origin cricketer to captain England in T20s, and the first Asian-origin cricketer to captain England in any format since Nasser Hussain in 2003. The destructive batsman was part of the Chennai Super Kings squad that went on to win the 2021 Indian Premier League, becoming the first Englishman to do so.
Ali has also done some philanthropy work, and became an Ambassador of StreetChance, a programme providing free weekly cricket coaching sessions in deprived areas in the UK, run by the Cricket Foundation and Barclays Spaces For Sports. In January 2015, he joined Orphans in Need, an international NGO, as a Global Brand Ambassador and carried the charity's logo on his bat.
Speaking about his charity work, Ali said: “I enjoy coming back to the community where I grew up playing tapeball 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.” Other sports stars who will be honoured by HM The Queen include former footballer and commentator Rio Ferdinand receiving an OBE for his activism and charity work.
There are also MBEs for the Olympic champion curlers Mili Smith, Victoria Wright, Hailey Duff and Jennifer Dodds with skip Eve Muirhead receiving an OBE. MBEs will also be awarded to gold-medal winning Beijing Paralympic super-G skier Neil Simpson and his guide (and brother) Andrew Simpson.
Welsh International footballer and five-time Champions League winner Gareth Bale will receive an MBE for services to football and charity, in addition to Liverpool star James Milner for the wonderful work undertaken by his foundation. England 's cricket summer will begin on Thursday with a test series against New Zealand, which will mark Brendon McCullum's first series in charge of the side.
Buoyed by the former destructive opening batsmen's appointment, Ali has told his new boss he would be willing to reverse his retirement from test cricket. According to The Mail, a source said: "He respects Brendon immensely and would play for him. He’s always been committed to England and wishes to continue. He will assist when required."
