Umesh Damdor Valjee, (born 30 September 1969 in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

) is a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n-born

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

deaf

cricketer 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 ...

. He is a BSL user. He is a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...

and very occasional right-arm medium pacer. Valjee came into professional cricket after being signed to British Deaf Sports Council in 1989. He is the longest-serving deaf cricketer of England, and wear same number shirt (No. 1) as was worn by

Tom Armitage Thomas Armitage (25 April 1848 – 21 September 1922) was an English first-class cricketer, who in 1877 took part in what are retrospectively recognised as the first two Test matches played by England. The players in these matches having bee ...

—the first capped England player. Valjee is former captain of the

England national deaf cricket team England Deaf Cricket Team represents England and Wales in international deaf cricket. The team, consisting of players who are Deaf or hearing impaired, is one of the England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) four disability teams. The team has partic ...

, and was awarded with the England Disability Cricketer of the Year in 2011. He was also awarded an

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

in the 2011 New Year's Honours list for services to disabled sport. He was one of the torchbearers at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London. Valjee played Jamil in the BBC's series "Switch" (2001-2006), which featured deaf signing actors.

References

External links

England Cricket Association for the Deaf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valjee, Umesh 1969 births Living people BSL users Cricketers from Durban Deaf cricketers Deaf people from South Africa English cricketers of the 21st century English people of Indian descent British sportspeople of Indian descent British Asian cricketers Members of the Order of the British Empire Middlesex cricketers South African emigrants to the United Kingdom South African people of Indian descent