Moeen Ali Awarded Order Of The British Empire (OBE) For Services To Cricket

England all-rounder Moeen Ali has been awarded the Order Of The British Empire (OBE) for his services to cricket in the Queen’s Birthday Honors on June 2, 2022. He has made 225 appearances in international cricket for England and has captained the side as well.

When sportsmen or women are named in one of the British and Commonwealth honors lists presided over by Queen Elizabeth II, who is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee this week, it is usually larger in recognition of a successful on-field career.

The 34-year-old announced his retirement from the Test cricket last year with 2,914 runs and 195 wickets from 64 Tests but still plays an important role in England’s limited-overs sides. In 112 ODIs, Ali has 1877 runs with 3 centuries and 5 fifties to his name, including the record for the fastest century in ODIs by an England batter. He has also taken 87 wickets.

In T20I matches, he has 637 runs and 33 wickets in 49 games for England.

I Think It’s More About The Journey I’ve Been Through: Moeen Ali On Been Awarded OBE

A Birmingham-born cricketer of Pakistani heritage, Moeen has rarely been shy of proclaiming his Muslim faith in a sport that has faced repeated allegations of discrimination. Moeen’s cricket achievements include a Test hat-trick and a World Cup winner’s medal, he said the OBE was a proud moment for his father Munir and mother Maqsood as well.

“It’s an honour to be recognised, it’s amazing and my family are really proud and happy. It’s not about runs and wickets. I think it’s more about the journey I’ve been through and all that kind of stuff, I guess. It’s my background, my upbringing and all that. All those kinds of things I’ve been through throughout my life,” Moeen said.

Moeen Ali OBE ❤️

Congratulations to Mo, who's been recognised in the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Honours ? pic.twitter.com/Bn650N4paJ

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 1, 2022

However, Moeen said that he is uncomfortable with being called as a role model for Britain’s Asian population.

“From the word ‘go’, as soon as I played for England, people labelled me as being a potential role model or role model. It is a big responsibility…But as time has gone on, you kind of accept it and deal with it a lot better.

You have to accept it and realise you are probably a role model even though you don’t like saying it too much. You do inspire a lot of people, especially from the inner city and the people that can relate to you. I don’t like that term role model, to a certain extent, but I know my role and what I need to do,” he added.

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