By Emb Hashmi
Asian World interviewed the successful ex-county cricketer and CEO of ‘Chance to Shine’ at our offices. We learned about his sheer determination to break through the cultural and race barriers and become the first British born Pakistani professional cricket player who then went on to publish an award winning book, and whose success was not just recognised by the Bank of England who called upon him on an advisory basis but also by Her Majesty the Queen who named Wasim in her annual birthday honors list awarding him with an MBE.
Can you tell the Asian World readers about your cricket career?
I started off as a 12-year-old, basically playing with my friends in the back garden. I got spotted in the playground by a teacher, who was impressed by my cricket ability to the extent that he took me to trials at Warwickshire.
“It was my teacher’s dedication, then I would probably not have perused cricket.”
At the age of 19, I was offered a full-time contract with Warwickshire, and by doing so I was the first British-born Pakistan in this country to be playing professional cricket. Every summer I was playing here, every winter I was going to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, for 10 years. I played for Warwickshire for seven years and then Sussex for three years and fianlly one year at Derbyshire in 2001, I played for a total of 11 years.
Being the only Pakistani in the team was you treated differently?
I saw myself as one of them. They treated me as one of them. People’s mentalities are different when it comes to minorities.
There was one guy there called Asif Deen, he had been there for years. He was a Ugandan Muslim.
Tell us about your career after leaving professional cricket?
I always said by the time I am 30 and I have not made it into the England team I would venture out and try something new. I got a phone call from the governor of the bank of England, Mervyn King, he said that he had a vision about trying to have cricket in states schools again, would I come to see him because he wanted me to run it for him. I then set up a £15million pound project to get cricket back into schools. We’ve now been running it for 8 years and have raised 48 million pounds.
Tell us about Chance to Shine?
We have two million kids involved across the country, across 7,000 state schools.
Chance to Shine is the biggest of its kind at the moment.
It’s interesting within 5 mile radius of Small Heath. We’ve had about 15 professional international cricketers in the last 12 years.
Tell us about your book?
It’s called Room Full of Passion, it’s about my career growing up in Small Heath, going on to play professional cricket. Luckily enough I won Wisdom Book of the Year in 2007.
What’s in your future and how do you feel about being recognised by your country and awarded an MBE?
I am really happy this is a great privilege, to be recognised in this way for my services to cricket and community.
I am also studying for an MBA, if someone said to me 15 years ago I would go to university and do an MBA, I would have laughed at them.
