Where is zafar ansari from

In the year leading up to the Lancashire game, I had returned to the subject with tedious regularity. I had also spoken sporadically with colleagues at Surrey about the possibility over the seven years I held a contract there. I begin with this not to indulge in mawkish narrativising but to emphasise that this was not a kneejerk decision, nor even one made over a period of months. Rather, both through design and accident, I had never reconciled myself to life as a professional cricketer.

Throughout my career, retirement was almost perpetually imminent. So why had I never allowed myself to settle into this unique existence?

This question implicitly emerged in some of the more sceptical reactions, which largely fell into two categories. On the one hand, there was a struggle to comprehend why someone would give up something for which so many would sacrifice so much: by calling it a day at 25, I was doing these people a disservice.

I can only respond that, from my experience last summer, watching cricket — even avidly — is different from playing it for a living. To assume that a passion for the sport as a spectator or club player translates into a love of the lifestyle of a professional cricketer is naive.

It fundamentally misses the point. More simply, I could not base such an important personal decision on the dreams of others. Playing cricket was no longer for me, and I wanted to do something else. On the other hand, there was an assumption that the only common-sense reason to stop playing would be to go into the City and make more money than cricket could offer.

But this neither captured my lingering trouble with the professional game, nor explained my desire to change paths: money is very good as a county cricketer, and played no part in my thinking. These analyses, though, were in the minority. In general, reactions were considered and sympathetic, and a third narrative developed: that the problem was an intellectual gap between me and my team-mates.

While this was flattering, once again I felt it missed the mark: there are lots of intelligent cricketers, many cleverer than I am. Full Name Zafar Shahaan Ansari. Born December 10, , Ascot, Berkshire. Age 29y d. Batting Style Left hand bat. Bowling Style Slow left arm orthodox. Playing Role Allrounder. Cambridge MCCU. England Unders. Surrey 2nd XI. Surrey Unders. But Zafar Ansari was prepared to say it and he proved true to his word when he announced his retirement early in the season just a few months after making his Test debut England's shortage of spinners of proven pedigree worked in his favour when he was summoned to the winter Test tours of Bangladesh and India in as another batsman-spinner option alongside Moeen Ali.

Explore Statsguru Analysis Test. Bangladesh vs England at Dhaka - October 28 - 30, India vs England at Visakhapatnam - November 17 - 21, Ireland vs England at Dublin Malahide - May 08, FC Matches. Lancashire vs Surrey at The Oval - April 14 - 17, List A Matches. Surrey vs Sussex at Hove - September 04, Surrey vs Warwickshire at Lord's - September 17, T20 Matches. Surrey vs Essex at The Oval - June 13, I took it as a positive that there was space for these conversations.

Just as people expect Ansari to be the proverbial boffin, it was assumed by some that he would leave cricket for a career in the City. Mike Atherton wrote a really nice piece — as did Ali Martin in the Guardian. My girlfriend and friends found that quite funny — because they know how far it is from the truth. So if money was a motivation I would have stayed longer in cricket. They work with young people involved in the criminal justice system.

These are kids from disadvantaged backgrounds with educational difficulties, exclusions and immigration cases. Compassion for others, and curiosity about their lives, beats just as strongly inside Ansari as his intelligence.

I love going to the cinema, I love listening to podcasts and hearing people talking about politics and broader social issues. Did he sometimes feel unhappy as a cricketer? It was a restlessness rather than an unhappiness. I was tussling with it for two years and I worried about letting people down who had invested a lot in me.

Alec Stewart had always been very good to me so I was concerned that, because of his own passionate commitment to cricket, he would struggle with me walking away at 25 — and saying that there is more to my life than wanting to be an international cricketer. But it was absolutely the opposite. Alec and everyone at Surrey understood — which really helped. You spend five days a week from 9am to 7pm at the ground watching cricket, surrounded by cricketers.

I look at the scores online and I might watch 20 minutes of highlights. On 26 April , Ansari announced his retirement from professional cricket with immediate effect. Ansari was selected as a member of the England touring party to Bangladesh and India in —17, and made his Test debut for England in the second Test against Bangladesh on 28 October.

He took figures of in the first innings, and made 13 with the bat. He was awarded an academic scholarship to Hampton School and read politics and sociology at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, graduating with a double-first.

Ansari made his One Day International debut for England against Ireland on 8 May , in a game which was eventually abandoned due to rain. On 15 September he was announced as a member of the man England squad visiting the United Arab Emirates the following month to play three Tests against Pakistan. However, on the same day that the announcement was made he dislocated his thumb when fielding against Lancashire and, as a result, was replaced in the England team by Samit Patel.

He scored his maiden first-class century in , for Surrey against Derbyshire.