September 22, 2014

Moeen Ali delighted to be named Birmingham Professional Sportsman of the Year

Ali has broken in to the limited overs and test sides this year (©GettyImages).

Moeen Ali has claimed the award for Birmingham Professional Sportsman of the Year for his achievements in 2014.

The England and Worcestershire all-rounder fended off Birmingham Knights basketball captain Michael Gayle and British sprinter Danny Talbot to claim the award.

Speaking about the accolade, Ali told GiveMeSport: "I'm delighted to receive the award which tops off a great year on a personal level.

"Obviously winning this Professional Sportsman of the Year in the Birmingham Sports Awards is a big honour because I'm very proud of where I come from.

"It's been a great year after breaking into the England side and playing in all seven Tests this summer,"

"I've probably achieved more than I thought I would and hopefully there is a lot more to come from me."

Moeen has also been nominated for Professional Player of the Year at the inaugural Asian Cricket Awards.

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One-day breakthrough

It has been a fantastic year for Ali in the England set-up as he claimed the spot of number one spinner since the retirement of Graeme Swann.

Despite being an off-spinner Ali was picked more for his batting credentials, however he soon proved he is more than capable with the ball.

The 27-year-old broke in to the ODI side at the beginning of the year and was named in the squad for the ICC World T20 tournament in Bangladesh.

The side picked for that tournament played a warm-up series in the West Indies. Moeen made his debut in the first game, taking the wicket of Darren Bravo and scoring 44 off 59 balls with the bat before falling to Dwayne Smith.

The left-handed batter finished the series with three wickets and 109 runs, helping England to a 2-1 series win.

Ali kept his place in the side for the T20 tournament but England failed to find any form as they were knocked out at the Super 10 stage, losing three and winning one.

He finished the tournament with 49 round in four matches without taking a wicket in the five overs he bowled.

Test summer 

The right arm bowler showed his best form with the ball over the summer during the Test series against Sri Lanka and India.

He made his debut for the test side at Lord's, in the first of the two match series against Sri Lanka. 

He took the wicket of Kumar Sangakkara in the Sri Lankan's first innings and scored 48 in his first batting performance.

His best performance with the bat came in the second test, scoring 108 not out, but he could not stop Sri Lanka winning the game and taking the series 1-0.

He finished the series with three wickets for 181 runs and scored 162 in four innings.

England dominance against India

The former Warwickshire player was a vital part of the side as England recovered from an early loss to win the five test series against India 3-1.

With England 1-0 down after two tests, Ali put in his best performance to date in the third match at the Ageas Bowl, helping England to a 266 run win, their first in 10 tests.

Ali ripped through India's bottom order and claimed six wickets for just 67 runs in the second innings as they were all out for 178. He ended the Test with figures of 8-129.

He took a further four wickets at Old Trafford in the fourth Test as England won by an innings and 54 runs, but had a quiet time in the fifth Test, only bowling one over and scoring 14 runs as England claimed another innings victory.

Ali ended the series having taken 19 wickets and scoring 124 runs.

Born in Birmingham, Ali also had a good time with the bat at county level, helping Worcestershire, who he joined from Warwickshire in 2007, to promotion in the LV = County Championship, averaging over 60 in his seven appearances.

Keep up to date with Moeen by liking his official Facebook page.

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