Hamza Sultan Ali (8 August 1995 – 9 June 2016), also known as Hamza Shabbir, was a

British Pakistani British Pakistanis ( ur, (Bratānia men maqīm pākstānī); also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are British people, citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes ...

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 who played for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC) Young Cricketers and Rawalpindi Rams. Primarily a right-arm

fast-medium Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

bowler, he also batted right handed. Ali attended City Academy Bristol and

Filton Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church ...

Sixth Form College.

Career

Ali played for many years for Stapleton Cricket Club in the West Of England League Bristol and North Somerset Division; his step father also played for the club. In 2016, he represented Downend Cricket Club, where he was known as one of the fastest bowlers in the Bristol leagues. During 2015, Ali also represented Omar Associates in the Patron's Trophy Grade II. He made his List A debut in 2014/15 for Rawalpindi Rams against

National Bank of Pakistan National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) () is a Pakistani government-owned multinational commercial bank which is a subsidiary of State Bank of Pakistan. It is headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. As of September 2020, it has 1,511 branches across Pakist ...

; Ali took 4/39 from 8.3 overs. In the 2015 season, Ali made two appearances for

Second XI, and he made his first-class debut in April 2016 in a pre-season match for Hampshire against

Cardiff MCCU Cardiff South Wales MCC University, formerly Cardiff University Centre of Cricketing Excellence, commonly abbreviated to Cardiff MCCU, is one of six University Centres of Cricketing Excellence supported by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). It c ...

, taking 2/47. Ali also represented the

(MCC) Young Cricketers, with his last appearance for them being in a Second XI Championship match against Sussex Second XI; Ali scored 44 and took 4 for 39 in the first innings of the match.

Death and tributes

On 9 June 2016, Ali died at around 17:20

British Standard Time During British Summer Time (BST), civil time in the United Kingdom is advanced one hour forward of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), in effect changing the time zone from UTC±00:00 to UTC+01:00, so that mornings have one hour less daylight, and ...

after drowning in the River Avon near Saltford Lock to the south-east of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. He was 20 years old. Hampshire's Head of Player Development said of Ali that "He was an incredibly committed and enthusiastic cricketer who always gave 100% for the team that he was playing for", whilst MCC head coach Steven Kirby said that "He greatly impressed us with his energy, enthusiasm and exceptional all-round talent." In memory of Ali, Hampshire wore black armbands for their

2016 T20 Blast The 2016 NatWest T20 Blast is the third season of the domestic T20 competition, run by the ECB, branded as the NatWest t20 Blast. The league consists of the 18 first-class county teams divided into two divisions of nine teams each with fixtures ...

match on 9 June against Surrey, Downend players wore black armbands on their match on 11 June, and the flags at Stapleton Cricket Club were lowered to

half-mast Half-mast or half-staff (American English) refers to a flag flying below the summit of a ship mast, a pole on land, or a pole on a building. In many countries this is seen as a symbol of respect, mourning, distress, or, in some cases, a salut ...

on 9 June.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Hamza 1995 births 2016 deaths English cricketers Rawalpindi cricketers Rawalpindi Rams cricketers Cricketers from Bristol Hampshire cricketers Deaths by drowning in the United Kingdom Accidental deaths in England English people of Pakistani descent British Asian cricketers British sportspeople of Pakistani descent