“A lot of people were disappointed with me coming to Yorkshire, but if you can change the mind of one person you’ve done a great job.
“Yorkshire have been doing a great job, so why not be part of that? There might be people from the same background as me, a South Asian background, who were probably hesitant to come and be themselves and play, and I don’t want anyone to ever think that.”
Performing for the team and helping to encourage inclusivity went hand in hand, he said.
“My main job is to perform and do well for the county, and hopefully win a trophy within the next two years but if you make any sort of difference…
“It’s such a vast area and there are a lot of South Asian players. Hopefully there can be a lot more players coming through the county system who don’t feel there are issues that could hold them back.
“I just want people to come and express themselves, play their game and enjoy the game with everybody else. There are ups and downs in cricket and in life but sometimes you’ve just got to deal with it.
“All the counties and ECB are trying to find ways and doing a good job. My dad always said to me that if you score a lot of runs, teams have to pick you, and that’s the main thing for a professional cricketer, to perform.
“You just want to make it easier for everyone, give them the idea that no matter what background you are from, no matter what you look like, no matter what you do, there is no sort of barrier in the way. That’s what it is about and that’s how it should be.”
Ali spoke about his desire to “build bridges” when he first signed for the club, but said his priority was to perform for his new county and help them to their first T20 Blast title.
He has already started to make good on that, with a 35-ball 50 against Derbyshire, and excellent economy rates as a bowler in his opening three matches.
“If I can come to Yorkshire and help us win the Blast within the next couple of years that will be amazing,” he said.”That will be one of my best achievements as a cricketer. I’m at the back end of my career and just want to win trophies.”
