Wasim Gulzar Khan (born 26 February 1971) is a former British cricketer who was the first British-Pakistani player to play professional

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 striki ...

in England. He was a left-handed batsman who also bowled right arm medium pace. Khan's family, originally from the AJK region, relocated to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the 1960s. Khan was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and attended Somerville Primary School before continuing on to Oldknow Secondary School. At the age of 12, he began to display a talent for cricket, and was encouraged to play by a teacher. Later that year in 1983, he was selected for the Warwickshire Under 13s team. Khan was the only state school boy in that team. He played first-class cricket for the record-breaking double-winning Warwickshire team

in 1995 IN, In or in may refer to: Places * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independ ...

, averaging 49 in the championship winning team. He also gained a NatWest winners medal. He represented England in the Under 19s. Khan was seen as one of the most important men in English cricket, leading the Cricket Foundation's £50 million Chance to Shine campaign as the CEO. The campaign aimed to regenerate competitive cricket in state schools. Prior to this, he was Operations Director for the Cricket Foundation's campaign - Chance to Shine. His autobiography ''Brim Full of Passion'' was voted

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

Book of the Year 2007. Since launching in 2005, Chance to Shine has reached over 1.8 million children across 6,500 schools and has raised close to £40 million. He also sits on the

Equality and Human Rights Commission The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain, established by the Equality Act 2006 with effect from 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of eq ...

Sports Group,

The Prince's Trust The Prince's Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth y Tywysog) is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are u ...

Cricket Group, and has the

Anti-Corruption and Security Unit The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

of the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and ...

. In January 2015, he earned a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from the

Warwick Business School Warwick Business School (WBS) is an academic department of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Warwick University, that was established in 1967 as the School of Industrial and Business Studies. The Business School offers undergraduate, postgradu ...

. He was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2013 Birthday Honours The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...

for services to cricket and the community. In October 2014, he was made Chief Executive of the

Leicestershire County Cricket Club Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the count ...

. In December 2018, he was appointed as the managing director of the

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Coun ...

(PCB) and moved to Pakistan to take his office in February 2019. In September 2021, he resigned as PCB chief executive four months before the end of his contract. In April 2022, Khan was appointed

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

's General Manager of cricket.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Wasim 1971 births Living people Alumni of Warwick Business School British sportspeople of Pakistani descent Cricketers from Birmingham, West Midlands Derbyshire cricketers English cricketers English cricketers of 1969 to 2000 English cricketers of the 21st century English expatriates in Pakistan English people of Mirpuri descent Members of the Order of the British Empire British Asian cricketers Sussex cricketers Warwickshire cricketers Warwickshire Cricket Board cricketers