Moeen Ali aims to inspire future cricketers on Birmingham school visit

Moeen Ali said a visit by a cricketer when he was at the primary school inspired him to play the sport

England cricketer Moeen Ali said he hoped returning to his old primary school could inspire cricketers of the future.

The Worcestershire player was a pupil at Nelson Mandela Primary School, Birmingham.

Moeen spoke in their assembly and said he hoped he would encourage some of the youngsters to take up cricket.

"To try and inspire even one person, one child in any way possible, that would be amazing," he said.

He was greeted by a queue of young autograph hunters in the playground on Wednesday.

Youngsters queued up to get Moeen's autograph on his visit

Moeen told the youngsters about the day he decided he wanted to play cricket for a living, when Warwickshire player Asif Din came to the school to teach them.

"That really inspired me because that was the day I thought 'that is what I want to do, I want to play cricket'," he said.

His former sports teacher, Kevin Jones, now assistant headteacher at the school, said his former pupil showed promise at a young age.

"It was quite evident quite early on that he was going to be a great cricketer and he would lead the cricket sessions, he knew more than me," he said.

Assistant headteacher Kevin Jones coached Moeen as a pupil and said he showed then he would be a cricket player

Moeen's visit was part of a project called Chance to Shine, which aims to inspire children to take up cricket.

The youngsters also heard about a new children's book he has co-written to help others learn about life skills sport can teach.

Moeen said writing The Legend of Sparkhill had been "one of the best things I've done".