Owais Shah facts for kids

Owais Alam Shah (born 22 October 1978) is a former cricket player from England. He was a middle-order batsman. Owais played for Middlesex from 1995 to 2010. He then joined Essex from 2011 to 2013. After that, he stopped playing first-class cricket.

Owais also played Twenty20 cricket for Hampshire in 2014 and 2015. He represented the England national team in all types of cricket games. Between 2001 and 2009, he played 71 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 17 Twenty20 Internationals. He also played 6 Test matches.

He started his Test career strongly, scoring 88 runs in his first game against India in 2006. However, he did not get many chances to play Test matches after that. He played for teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) like Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals.

Early Cricket Days

Owais Shah was born in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan on October 22, 1978. He was a very talented young cricketer. He started playing for Wycombe House Cricket Club. At just 12 years old, Owais scored 154 runs in a league game for the senior team.

He won many awards, including the Ken Barrington National Cup. His skills at a young age helped him move up through the England Youth and Middlesex Cricket County systems. He played his first professional game at 17 in 1996. In 1997, he won the NBC Denis Compton Award.

Leading the Youth Team

In early 1998, Owais was the captain of the England Under-19 team. He led them to win the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa. The next year, he captained the England Under-19 cricket team again. They played a "Test" match series at home against Pakistan.

At 17, he was chosen for the England 'A' team that toured Australia in late 1998. This suggested he might soon play for England's main Test team. However, he had two difficult seasons after that. By the end of 2000, he scored less than 500 runs in first-class cricket. He even lost his spot on the Middlesex first team.

Getting Back in Form

Owais started playing well again in 2001. He averaged 41.60 runs and made his ODI debut against Australia in Bristol. Later that summer, he scored 62 runs against Pakistan. In 2001, the Cricket Writers' Club named him their Young Cricketer of the Year. Owais went to Isleworth and Syon School for Boys and Lampton School. He also graduated from university.

Playing for England Again

Even though Owais had a good start to his international career, he struggled to play consistently well. From 2001 to 2003, he only scored one more fifty in ten games. People also thought his fielding was not good enough for modern one-day games. Because of this, he was dropped from the England team before getting a chance to play Test cricket.

In 2004, he had a successful year with the bat, scoring 1,336 runs. But he lost his Middlesex captaincy during the season due to poor team results. In 2005, he played much better. He was the top scorer in the First Division of the County Championship. He made 1578 runs with an average of 65.75.

Test Debut and Return

After his great county season, people thought Owais might be chosen for England's tours to Pakistan and India. He was selected for the England 'B' team tour to the West Indies. But he was called up to the main team for the India tour because several players were injured.

He made his Test debut in the third Test match in Mumbai on March 18, 2006. He scored 88 runs in his very first Test innings. After 15 months, he returned to the England Test squad for the first Test match against the West Indies. This game was at his home ground, Lord's. However, he scored only 6 and 4 runs in his two innings. He was then dropped from the squad for the next Test.

ODI Success

Owais was brought back for the ODI series, which included two Twenty20 Internationals. He did not score many runs in the first match, which England lost. But in the second match, he scored a match-winning 55 runs off 35 balls. England drew the Twenty20 series 1–1, and he was named man of the match.

He changed his batting style over time. He still had many different shots, especially his pull shot and a powerful hit through extra cover. His first century (100 runs) in an ODI came against India at The Oval on September 5, 2007. He scored 107 runs without being out. In the same match, he bowled in an ODI for the first time. With his 17th ball, he took his first ODI wicket, getting the Indian captain Rahul Dravid out.

Owais toured Sri Lanka with England in late 2007. He then played in the ODI series against New Zealand in early 2008. He did not have a great ODI series, but he scored 96 runs in a warm-up match. This helped him try to get back into the Test squad.

Twenty20 Cup Win

In July 2008, Owais helped Middlesex win the Twenty20 Cup. He played a match-winning innings in the final, scoring 75 runs off just 35 balls. A highlight was hitting three sixes in a row off Kent's bowler James Tredwell.

After captain Michael Vaughan retired in summer 2008, Owais had a chance to play on the tour to the West Indies. Although Ian Bell played the first Test, he was dropped. Owais replaced him for the rest of the Test series. Owais only managed one half-century. He also reached 13,000 first-class runs during the third Test. However, he was not chosen for the summer Tests against West Indian cricket team in England in 2009 and Australia.

He had a difficult ODI series against Australia in 2009. He did not score higher than 44 runs in any of the seven matches. Going into the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy, his place on the team was uncertain. He scored another 44 runs in the first match against Sri Lanka. Then, he scored a match-winning 98 runs in the second group game against South Africa. However, this was not enough. Owais was not included in any of England's teams for the tour to South Africa. He still had a central contract and was later in the England Performance Squad for the 2010 home series. But he did not play for England in 2010.

Middlesex announced on August 31, 2010, that they would not renew Owais Shah's contract after the 2010 season.

Indian Premier League (IPL)

When England players were allowed to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Owais Shah joined the Delhi Daredevils. He was signed for $275,000 in their second player auction. Later, he was traded to Kolkata Knight Riders for Moises Henriques.

The new team Kochi Tuskers Kerala bought him for $200,000. He played for them in the fourth IPL season. When Kochi Tuskers were removed from the 2012 season, he played for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 5.

Playing in Other Leagues

Wellington Firebirds

On August 31, 2009, it was announced that the Wellington Firebirds had signed Owais Shah. He played for them in their domestic Twenty20 competition in December 2009. His former Middlesex teammate Stephen Fleming recommended him.

Cape Cobras

Owais Shah also played for the Cape Cobras in South Africa. During his time there, the team won the first-class, one-day, and Pro20 competitions.

Coaching Career

Owais Shah worked as the temporary head coach for the United Arab Emirates national team. He coached them from November 2016 to January 2017. Dougie Brown then took over as coach. The main tournament for the UAE during Owais's time was the 2017 Desert T20 Challenge. In November 2020, the Dambulla Viiking team chose him as their head coach for the first Lanka Premier League.