Wasim Gulzar Khan (born 26 February 1971) is a former British cricketer who was the first British player with Pakistani origin to play professional

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

in England. He was a left-handed batsman who also bowled right arm medium pace.

Early life and career

Khan's family, originally from the

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

region, relocated to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the early 1950s. Khan was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and attended Somerville Primary School before continuing on to Oldknow Secondary School. At the age of 12, he began to display a talent for cricket, and was encouraged to play by a teacher. Later that year in 1983, he was selected for the Warwickshire Under 13s team. Khan was the only state school boy in that team.

Domestic career

He played first-class cricket for the record-breaking double-winning Warwickshire team in 1995, averaging 49 in the championship winning team. He also gained a NatWest winners medal. He represented England in the Under 19s.

Cricket administration

England

Khan was seen as one of the most important men in English cricket, leading the Cricket Foundation's £50 million Chance to Shine campaign as the CEO. The campaign aimed to regenerate competitive cricket in state schools. Prior to this, he was Operations Director for the Cricket Foundation's campaign – Chance to Shine. Since launching in 2005, Chance to Shine has reached over 1.8 million children across 6,500 schools and has raised close to £40 million. He also sits on the

Equality and Human Rights Commission The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain, established by the Equality Act 2006 with effect from 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of e ...

Sports Group,

The Prince's Trust The King's Trust (formerly the Prince's Trust) is a United Kingdom-based charity founded in 1976 by Charles III, King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds w ...

Cricket Group, and has the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit of the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka ECB, is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test ...

. In January 2015, he earned a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

from the

Warwick Business School Warwick Business School (WBS) is the business school of the University of Warwick and an academic department within the Faculty of Social Sciences. It was established in 1967 as the School of Industrial and Business Studies. The business school ...

. He was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2013 Birthday Honours The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of t ...

for services to cricket and the community. In October 2014, he was made Chief Executive of the

Leicestershire County Cricket Club Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the coun ...

Pakistan

In December 2018, he was appointed as the managing director of the

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), formerly known as Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan ...

(PCB) and moved to Pakistan to take his office in February 2019. In September 2021, he resigned as PCB chief executive four months before the end of his contract.

International

In April 2022, Khan was appointed

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

's General Manager of cricket.

Book

His autobiography ''Brim Full of Passion'' was voted

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

Book of the Year in 2007.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Wasim 1971 births Living people Alumni of Warwick Business School English people of Kashmiri descent English people of Pakistani descent Sportspeople of Pakistani descent Cricketers from Birmingham, West Midlands Derbyshire cricketers English cricketers English cricketers of 1969 to 2000 20th-century English sportsmen English expatriates in Pakistan English people of Mirpuri descent Members of the Order of the British Empire British Asian cricketers Sussex cricketers Warwickshire cricketers Warwickshire Cricket Board cricketers