Cricinfo - Players and Officials

Full name Kabir Ali
Born November 24, 1980, Moseley, Birmingham, Warwickshire
Current age 27 years 226 days
Major teams England, England A, England NCA XI, Rajasthan, Worcestershire, Worcestershire Cricket Board
Nickname Kabby, Taxi
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium-fast
Height 6 ft 0 in
Education Moseley School, Wolverhampton University
Relations Cousin - Kadeer Ali, Cousin - MM Ali, Cousin - OM Ali

Batting and fielding averages

Mat

Inns

Runs

Ave

100

Tests

5.00

35.71

ODIs

39*

15.50

108

86.11

First-class

103

142

2185

84*

17.76

List A

152

1046

15.15

Twenty20

261

17.40

191

136.64

Bowling averages

Mat

Inns

Balls

Runs

Wkts

BBI

BBM

Ave

Econ

Tests

216

136

3/80

5/136

27.20

3.77

43.2

ODIs

673

682

4/45

34.10

6.08

33.6

First-class

103

17495

10444

385

8/50

27.12

3.58

45.4

List A

152

6511

5626

222

5/36

25.34

5.18

29.3

Twenty20

513

669

4/44

20.90

7.82

16.0

Career statistics

Only Test

England v South Africa at Leeds, Aug 21-25, 2003 scorecard

Test statistics

ODI debut

England v Zimbabwe at Leeds, Jul 1, 2003 scorecard

Last ODI

England v Sri Lanka at Leeds, Jul 1, 2006 scorecard

ODI statistics

First-class debut

1999

Last First-class

Leicestershire v Worcestershire at Leicester, Jun 29-Jul 1, 2008 scorecard

List A debut

2000

Last List A

Worcestershire v New Zealanders at Worcester, Jun 11, 2008 scorecard

Twenty20 debut

Warwickshire v Worcestershire at Birmingham, Jul 9, 2004 scorecard

Last Twenty20

Worcestershire v Glamorgan at Worcester, Jun 27, 2008 scorecard

In December 2002, when England had lost the Ashes for the eighth series in a row and the onus was on finding new blood, the last thing the team needed was another poseur. Fortunately, Kabir Ali - Worcestershire seam bowler and part-time male model - leaves his pouting well behind when he sets foot on a cricket pitch. One of the 50 most eligible bachelors in Britain (according to Asian Woman & Bride magazine), Kabir bowls with strength and stamina, and hits the bat hard from just short of a length, albeit with a somewhat low-slung action. At a time when England fast bowlers were dropping like flies in Australia in 2002-03, Kabir's single-minded approach at the Adelaide Academy won him many friends - and promotion to the one-day squad. He made his debut the following summer, although he was not an instant success. His ODI bow was washed out before he had taken the field, while his solitary Test ended in a dispiriting defeat at Headingley, but England did not forget, and after earning a recall for the Champions Trophy in 2004, he went on to be one of England's few successes in a 4-1 series defeat in South Africa. He was the leading wicket-taker with 13 scalps, and overcame his jitters - and a no-ball that went for four - to secure a thrilling tie in the final over at Bloemfontein. Subsequent opportunities have been few and far between - although he did impress in phases in Pakistan and India the following winter. His one-day career appeared to have come to a stuttering halt after he went for more than 7 an over in two matches against Sri Lanka in 2006, and he was not selected for the subsequent series against Pakistan. The selectors finally appeared to have decided Ali was out of his depth in international cricket.
Andrew Miller October 2006

Apr 20, 2008

Kabir Ali portrait © Getty Images

Jun 21, 2007

Vikram Solanki shares a joke with Worcestershire team-mate Kabir Ali © Getty Images

Jun 28, 2006

Kabir Ali's expression says it all - he went for 77 runs and took no wickets © Getty Images

View the full list of 24 related images