London: England all-rounder Moeen Ali has been awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for his exemplary service to cricket in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
“It is obviously an honour and the more you think about it, the more you realise how nice it is and how rewarding it is,” Moeen told The Guardian and PA Media.
“More than anything, I know it makes my parents happy and that’s the most important thing – one of the main reasons for accepting. It’s amazing and my family are really proud and happy.
“I think it’s more about the journey I’ve been on, my background, my upbringing and all that,” he added.
“Maybe the way I played a little bit and the way I go about my cricket, maybe that’s what people have liked or whatever.”
Moeen further felt elated to be acknowledged as a role model among aspiring cricketers.
“From the word go, as soon as I played for England, people labelled me as being a potential role model. It is a big responsibility because you don’t want to let people down. But then as time has gone on, you kind of accept it and deal with it a lot better. You kind of do inspire a lot of people, especially from the inner city. ”
Moeen revealed that he is open to returning to Test cricket, having retired from the format last year.
“Baz (McCullum) messaged me asking if I was ‘in’. I have played with him in the Indian Premier League and really enjoyed the way he works. We spoke and he mentioned potentially, in the future, if there is a tour – or whenever, really – would I be available? I said ‘call me at the time’. We’ll see,” Moeen revealed.
The 34-year-old has represented England in 225 Internationals across all three formats, amassing 5428 runs in addition to picking up 315 wickets.
