Abdul Hafeez (born 21 March 1977) is a former first-class English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er: an opening batsman and occasional medium-pace bowler who had a brief county cricket career with

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

. He was born in

Moseley Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

. Hafeez made his debut for Warwickshire's Second XI in 1996, having progressed through the age-groups from under-14 level. He impressed on debut, scoring an unbeaten 52*. He was part of the

Second XI Championship The Second XI Championship is a season-long cricket competition in England that is competed for by the reserve teams of those county cricket clubs that have first-class status. The competition started in 1959 and has been contested annually ever ...

winning side that year, and despite scoring 408 runs at an average of 40.1, was not provided with any further opportunities. Nevertheless, Hafeez caught the eye of neighbours

in 1997 after having scored over 750 runs for Moseley Cricket Club's First XI in the

Birmingham and District Premier League The Birmingham & District Premier Cricket League is the oldest club cricket league in the United Kingdom, formed in 1888. It was the first ECB Premier League, being designated such in 1998, and is one of the strongest of the ECB Premier Leagues ...

that summer. He made his first-class debut in April 1998 against

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

at New Road. He played a further nine first-class games that season, smashing a career-best 55 off 53 balls to lead

to a five wicket championship win over

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, whose bowling attack included

Courtney Walsh Courtney Andrew Walsh OJ (born 30 October 1962) is a former Jamaican cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches. He is a fast bowler and considered one of the all-time greats, best ...

, Mike Smith, and Jon Lewis. Hafeez was given fewer opportunities the following season, playing only four first-class matches. This was notwithstanding that, by June 1999, in what was only his second year on the county staff, Hafeez had scored over 1,000 runs at an average of 49.8 for the Second XI, including five fifties, three hundreds, and a top score of 181. However, to the surprise of many, Hafeez was released at the end of the season. Following his departure, he played one further game for

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the 2000

NatWest Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. La ...

. He then played for several years for the

Worcestershire Cricket Board The Worcestershire Cricket Board is the governing body for all recreational cricket in the historic county of Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is ...

team in the Minor Counties Trophy (228 runs, at an average of 38), and also made several appearances in the NatWest Trophy's replacement, the

C&G Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. La ...

, including a game against the professional

side in May 2003. In 2002, he joine
Dorridge Cricket Club
The club were in the

Warwickshire Cricket League {{More citations needed, date=May 2015 The Warwickshire Cricket League is the biggest cricket league for clubs in Warwickshire. Its origins go back to 1989, and since 1998 it has acted as a feeder league to the Birmingham and District Premier Lea ...

at the time, and some may have doubted the wisdom of his move. However, Hafeez contributed heavily with the bat and ball, including an unbeaten century on the day Dorridge secured top-spot and a place in the Birmingham and District Premier League's for the first time in the club's history. The club's first season in Division Two was to prove Hafeez's most successful with the bat (982 runs, at 66.5), including an unforgettable 116* against Blossomfield, which helped take Dorridge straight up into Division One at the first attempt.There followed two years of consistent scoring (aggregate 1273 runs, at 45.9), and although Dorridge moved down to Division Two for the 2006 season, the runs continued to flow (673 runs, at 63.6). At the end of that season, Hafeez agreed to take on the role of First XI Captain. It was to prove a wise decision. In brief, Hafeez captained the club from 2006 to 2009, and by the end of the 2009 season, had amassed 5,156 runs at an average of 50.1, playing an integral part in the club's successive promotions. In 2009, he was named Midlands Club Cricket Conference Cricketer of the Year. In 2010, Hafeez returned to Moseley Cricket Club to captain the First XI. He remained captain until the end of the 2013 season when he decided to step down. The

celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2013, with Hafeez being selected to represent the 'pre-1998' team, compromising of players from the League's founding clubs, to play against a 'post-1998' team. The match took place at Kidderminster Victoria Cricket Club and Hafeez, despite heading towards the twilight years of his career, scored a magnificent century in what has since been regarded as an historic fixture.

External links

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Cricketers of the Year
from The Midlands Club Cricket Conference {{DEFAULTSORT:Hafeez, Abdul 1977 births Living people English cricketers Worcestershire cricketers People from Moseley Shropshire cricketers Worcestershire Cricket Board cricketers British Asian cricketers Cricketers from the West Midlands