Moaaz masters schools cricket

Abu Dhabi: Moaaz Qazi, a 16-year-old Grade 11 student from Cambridge High School, is a budding cricketer who is worth keeping an eye on. The Pakistani schoolboy has been a consistent performer and in the local schools' circuit is a batsman who is greatly feared by rival bowlers.

Moaaz is not only a powerful hitter of the ball, but he can also bowl some useful off-spin, which has seen him take wickets at regular intervals.

He had an early introduction to the sport, following in the footsteps of his father Qazi Ayoub, who has been playing in the top flight competitions in the country for more than 23 years. Incidentally Qazi is the head coach of the Abu Dhabi-based MCC-Zayed Cricket Academy and is also skipper of the United Bank Limited (UBL) cricket team.

Moaaz was one of the first students to be enrolled when the MCC-Zayed Cricket Academy was established in December 2005. He won the Most Promising Young Cricketer award and has toured with the academy team to England and Malaysia. He was also selected for an all expenses paid week-long training camp at Sussex County Cricket Club in England in 2010.

Scoring consistently for both the ZCA and for his school since inter-school cricket started here in Abu Dhabi, Moaaz has been named man of the match on numerous occasions and a rival school in the capital even offered him a seat to strengthen their own cricket team!

Earlier this week, the dashing young star became only the second player to score a century in the Abu Dhabi inter-school tournament after Dan D'Souza of the International School of Choueifat reached the milestone last season.

Destructive form

Moaaz belted 118 runs, took two wickets and held three catches in Cambridge School's win over Indian Islahi School in this year's inter-school event.

His coach, Yogesh Mistry, a former Ranji trophy and UAE player, said: "He is one of the hardest hitters of the cricket ball. He can be very destructive for any opposition. He is a useful bowler too and if he can concentrate a little more on it, he can be a good bowler as well.

"Moaaz has got good cricketing knowledge and is very passionate about his cricket. He never misses training. He has got great potential to play at higher levels if he continues to work hard," Mistry said.

Moaaz plays regularly for the Emirates Cricket Board Greens, a team that is being groomed for the U-19 World Cup, to be hosted by the UAE in 2014. He has also been shortlisted in the UAE squad for the Under-16 ACC Challenge Cup to be held in Thailand from March 1 to 10.

If this youngster can strike a good balance between his cricket and his studies and manages to keep his head on his shoulders, he could blossom into a competent international-level cricketer.

HIGHLIGHTS

Nissan Gulf cup 2007 - Most Promising Player U11

England Tour Syndicate Cup 2007 - Member of winning team U16

Arabian Cricket festival U13, 2008 - Captain of runners-up team and Player of tournament

England tour Syndicate Cup 2008 - Member of runners-up team U16

MCC Zayed Cricket Academy 2010/2011 -Most Promising Player (Youth)

Inter-academy Tournament 2011 - Player of the tournament U16

Interschool tournament 2010 - Player of the tournament U16

Selected for UAE U19 reserves for Elite Cup to Thailand

In squad for UAE U19 vs West Indies U19

In squad for UAE vs Sagicor High Performance Centre

Representing ECB Blues and ECB Greens

Career Best figures of 4-0-6-5 for ECB Blues vs Robt Stone in Al Aqili Ramadan T20 Cup 2011

Malaysia Tour 2011 U16 - Best Bowler