Moeen Ali awarded Order of the British Empire for exemplary service to cricket

English all-rounder Moeen Ali has been named in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Honours list and presented the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contribution to England cricket. Moeen made his international debut in 2014 and was a member of England’s World Cup-winning side in 2019.

With 195 wickets in 64 games, he announced his retirement from the longest format of the game in 2021. Apart from that, he also had 2914 runs under his belt batting in the middle-order. He continues to represent the England in white-ball cricket.

“It’s an honor to be recognized, it’s amazing and my family is really proud and happy. More than anything, I know it makes my parents 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,” he was quoted by News 18.

As soon as I played for England, people labeled me as being a potential role model: Moeen Ali

Moeen, a Birmingham-born cricketer of Pakistan heritage, has never been hesitant about expressing his views on his faith and how he has been discriminated against on occasions. However, Moeen, who described the OBE as nearly the cherry on the cake, has not always been at ease with being a role model for Britain’s Asian community.

“From the word ‘go’, as soon as I played for England, people labeled 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 realize 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.