12th January 2012

New Year honour for top cricketer

England Deaf Cricket captain Umesh Valjee was awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honour List for his services to Deaf cricket.

The MBE caps a successful season for Valjee with some great batting performances on a recent England Deaf tour of Australia, which saw him named as the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Disability Cricketer of the Year.

Bobby Denning, the England Deaf Cricket head coach, praised Valjee, saying: "This is fantastic news for Umesh, the Deaf squad and the disability game in England."

"His contribution towards international deaf cricket as a player and captain has been outstanding. He has been a top performer for such a long time".
 
Valjee made his international debut in 1992 and has since played 56 times for England. He has received praise for his batting abilities which saw him posting an average of 49 in Test cricket with his highest score against Australia in 2004.

Valjee also had a starring role in the popular Deaf BBC drama, 'Switch'.

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Image: Ben Marsh via Wikimedia under Creative Commons Licence