Zafar Shahaan Ansari (; born 10 December 1991) is a former British

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 ...

er who played for

Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South Londo ...

and the England national team. A spin-bowling all-rounder, he bowled

left-arm orthodox spin Left-arm orthodox spin or left-arm off spin, also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of spin bowling in cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven ...

, and batted left-handed. He now works as a lawyer in London.

Background and education

Ansari is of Pakistani descent through his father, Khizar Humayun Ansari, who migrated to the UK from

Sukkur Sukkur is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh along the western bank of the Indus River, directly across from the historic city of Rohri. Sukkur is the List of cities in Sindh by population, third largest city in Sindh after Karachi and H ...

. His older brother

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

is a former county cricketer. Ansari was educated at St John's Beaumont School and came through the Surrey academy system, having represented the county before he turned nine and also representing England at U15 (a team he also captained), U17 and U19 level. He was awarded an academic scholarship to

Hampton School Hampton School is a fee-charging, boys-only private day school in Hampton, London, England. As of the 2024–2025 academic year, the school charges a minimum of £26,040 per year for attendance. Until 1975, the school was a voluntary aided gram ...

and read politics and sociology at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

, graduating with a

double-first The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

. In 2016, he completed a 40,000 word master's dissertation on the 1960s American civil rights group, the

Deacons for Defense and Justice The Deacons for Defense and Justice was a Black American self-defense group founded in November 1964, during the civil rights era in the United States, in the mill town of Jonesboro, Louisiana. On February 21, 1965—the day of Malcolm X's assassi ...

, being awarded his master's degree in history with distinction at the end of the year by

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

Cricket career

County cricket

Ansari made his Surrey debut against

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

in September 2010 in a

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

match, before making his first-class debut for Cambridge MCCU against

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

in April 2011. He had bowling figures of 5–33 in only his third first-class match, for Cambridge MCCU against his own county of Surrey,

Kevin Pietersen Kevin Peter Pietersen (born 27 June 1980) is a former England international cricketer. He is regarded as one of the greatest England batsmen to have played the game, and renowned for his competitive, and often controversial nature. He was a ri ...

being among his victims. He scored his maiden first-class century in 2014, for Surrey against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

. In Surrey's next first-class match, against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, he had his first 5-wicket haul for the county with figures of 5–93.

International

Ansari made his

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

debut for England against Ireland on 8 May 2015, in a game which was eventually abandoned due to rain. On 15 September 2015, he was announced as a member of the 16-man England squad visiting the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

the following month to play three

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

against

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. However, on the same day that the announcement was made he dislocated his thumb when fielding against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and, as a result, was replaced in the England team by Samit Patel. Ansari was selected as a member of the England touring party to Bangladesh and India in 2016–17, and made his Test debut for England in the second Test against Bangladesh on 28 October. He took figures of 0–36 in the first innings, and made 13 with the bat. In Bangladesh's second innings he took 2–76, although he was out for a duck in England's second innings as they lost by 108 runs. Ansari played in the first two Tests against India. In the first Test, he made 32 in England's first innings total of 537. He took figures of 2–77 in India's first innings, before picking up another wicket in the second innings, although England were unable to force a victory. In the second Test he did not take a wicket, and was out for a duck in England's second innings as England lost the Test by 246 runs. A back injury prevented him from playing any further part in the tour.

Retirement

On 26 April 2017, at age 25, Ansari announced his retirement from professional cricket with immediate effect. He did not regard himself as a super-successful cricketer, such as

Joe Root Joseph Edward Root, (born 30 December 1990) is an English international cricketer, who plays for the England cricket team, English cricket team and formerly captained the Test team. He also represents Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire ...

Moeen Ali Moeen Munir Ali (born 18 June 1987) is an English cricketer, who was formerly vice-captain of England in limited overs cricket. He played for England cricket team between 2014 and 2024. In domestic cricket he represents Warwickshire, having p ...

, so retirement did not feel like he was giving up something. He stated he had always maintained that cricket was just one part of his life, and that he had other ambitions that he wanted to fulfil. Ansari had a wide worldview and interests. Two years after retiring from cricket he said "On a day to day basis I think I’m a happier person."

Career after cricket

Since cricket, he has worked for "Just for Kids Law, a legal charity supporting young people with immigration, housing or school issues" and

Inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a cor ...

. In 2021 he was appointed as one of the five members of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket set up by 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 ...

to tackle inequity in the sport. Ansari was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 2021 and practices at

Blackstone Chambers Blackstone Chambers is a set of barristers' chambers in the Temple district of central London. Established in the 1950s, as of 2022 it had 119 tenants, of whom more than 50 are silks. Current notable members include Robert Anderson, Michael Be ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ansari, Zafar 1991 births Living people English Muslims People educated at St John's Beaumont School People educated at Hampton School Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Sportspeople from Ascot, Berkshire English cricketers England Test cricketers England One Day International cricketers Surrey cricketers Cambridge MCCU cricketers English people of Pakistani descent Sportspeople of Pakistani descent Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers British Asian cricketers Zafar British people of Sindhi descent