Syed Ashar Ahmed Zaidi ( ur, ; born 13 July 1981) is a Pakistani first-class cricketer. Zaidi is a left-handed batsman and

left-arm orthodox spin Left-arm orthodox spin, Left-arm off spin also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of left-arm finger spin bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left-arm bowler using the fingers to spin ...

bowler who is considered an all-rounder. He has played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

in Pakistan and for

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

and

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, 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 Riv ...

in England and has represented the

Pakistan A cricket team The Pakistan A cricket team, or Pakistan Shaheens, is a national cricket team representing Pakistan. It is the second-tier of international Pakistan cricket, below the full Pakistan national cricket team. Matches played by Pakistan A are not cons ...

at international level. He holds a British passport and as a result can play as a domestic player in England.Ashar Zaidi: Sussex sign all-rounder on two-year deal
BBC Sport, 2013-11-18. Retrieved 2014-02-19.

First-class career

Zaidi began his career playing for Islamabad Cricket Association in Pakistan. He appeared 88 times for the team between 1999 and 2010 and made appearances for other teams in Pakistan during the period. During the period between 2010 and 2013, he played

club cricket Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal, form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are o ...

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 ...

for

Accrington Cricket Club Accrington Cricket Club is a cricket club in the Lancashire League, which play their home games at Thorneyholme Road Thorneyholme Road is a cricket and former football ground in Accrington, England. It is the home ground of Accrington Crick ...

as well as appearing for Gazi Tank in the

Dhaka Premier League The Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, also known as the Dhaka Premier League, is a club List A tournament in Bangladesh. History Since its inauguration in 1973–74 the league has been the premier club cricket competition in Bangladesh. It ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

. Zaidi joined

Sussex County Cricket Club Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Sussex. Its limited overs team is called the Sussex Sharks. The ...

on non-contract terms towards the end of the 2013 season making two first-class appearances. Following the season, he signed a two-year contract with the club. During a

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It b ...

match in September 2015, Zaidi was abused by English bowler

Craig Overton Craig Overton (born 10 April 1994) is an English cricketer who plays for Somerset and England. He is an all-rounder who bowls right-arm medium-fast and bats right-handed. He made his international debut for England in December 2017. His twin b ...

whilst he was batting. Overton received a two match ban as a result of the incident. Zaidi later called on Overton to apologise for the abuse.ECB denies double standards after Pakistan player told 'get back to own country'
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', 2015-12-10. Retrieved 2016-01-26.Ashar Zaidi: Somerset's Craig Overton must apologise for 'racist behaviour'
''

'', 2015-12-13. Retrieved 2016-01-26.Ashar Zaidi calls for crackdown on racist rants after Craig Overton ban
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', 2015-12-13. Retrieved 2016-01-26.Craig Overton: Ashar Zaidi wants apology for alleged slur
BBC Sport, 2015-12-14. Retrieved 2016-01-26. After making 19 first-class appearances for the county, Zaidi was released by Sussex at the end of the 2015 season before signing a one-year contract with

in January 2016.Sussex: Chris Liddle, Steffan Piolet and Ashar Zaidi leave
BBC Sport, 2015-09-30. Retrieved 2016-01-25.Trio released as Sussex begin rebuilding job
''The Argus'', 2015-10-06. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
Cricinfo, 2016-01-12. Retrieved 2016-01-25.Ashar Zaidi: Essex sign former Sussex all-rounder
BBC Sport, 2016-01-12. Retrieved 2016-01-25. He played a total of 65 games for Essex over three seasons, but was released at the end of 2018.Essex hand Peter Siddle two-year contract
Cricinfo, 2018-09-07. Retrieved 2019-12-18.

Franchise and T20 career

Bangladesh Premier League

Zaidi was selected by

Comilla Victorians Comilla Victorians ( bn, কুমিল্লা ভিক্টোরিয়ান্স) is a Bangladeshi professional men's cricket team which competes in the Bangladesh Premier League, a Twenty20 cricket league. The team is based in Cumi ...

in the draft for the

2015 Bangladesh Premier League Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

. He won the player of the tournament award, taking 17 wickets and scoring 215 runs as

Comilla Comilla (; bn, কুমিল্লা, Kumillā, ), officially spelled Cumilla, is the fifth largest city of Bangladesh and second largest in Chittagong division. It is the administrative centre of the Comilla District. The name Comilla was ...

won the tournament.A season to remember for professional Comilla
Cricinfo, 2015-12-17. Retrieved 2016-01-25. Zaidi's simple approach to both batting and bowling during the tournament was noted,
Cricinfo, 2015-12-12. Retrieved 2016-01-25. although his performance was generally considered a surprise given his lack of

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inn ...

experience prior to the tournament.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaidi, Ashar 1981 births Living people Pakistani cricketers Essex cricketers Sussex cricketers Islamabad cricketers Rawalpindi cricketers Khan Research Laboratories cricketers Federal Areas cricketers Rawalpindi Rams cricketers Islamabad Leopards cricketers Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited cricketers Twelvers Islamabad United cricketers Comilla Victorians cricketers Gazi Tank cricketers Legends of Rupganj cricketers Kala Bagan Cricket Academy cricketers Cricketers from Karachi Pakistani Shia Muslims