Umesh Damdor Valjee, MBE (born 30 September 1969 in Durban, Natal) is a South African-born English deaf cricketer.[1][2] He is a BSL user.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Umesh Damdor Valjee |
| Born | 30 September 1969 (age 55) Durban, Natal, South Africa |
| Role | Batsman |
He is a right-handed batsman and very occasional right-arm medium pacer.[3] Valjee came into professional cricket after being signed to British Deaf Sports Council in 1989. He is the longest-serving deaf cricketer of England, and wear the same shirt number (No. 1) as Tom Armitage—the first capped England player.[4]
Valjee is former captain of the England national deaf cricket team, and was awarded with the England Disability Cricketer of the Year in 2011.[5] He was also awarded an MBE in the 2011 New Year's Honours list for services to disabled sport.[6]
He was one of the torchbearers at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.[7]
Valjee played Jamil in the BBC's series "Switch" (2001-2006), which featured deaf signing actors.[8]
References
edit- ^ "CricHQ - Umesh Valjee career". CricHQ. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
- ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
- ^ "Players – Umesh Valjee". cricketarchive.com. CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
- ^ Ugra, Sharda (17 October 2011). "The captain who paved the way with signs". espncricinfo.com. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
- ^ "Valjee hails crowning moment". ecb.co.uk England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
- ^ "Umesh Valjee rewarded with MBE". club-cricket.co.uk.
- ^ "Olympic Torch: Day 69". ITV News. 18 July 2012.
- ^ "Umesh Valjee". IMDb.