Owais Alam Shah (born 22 October 1978) is a former England cricketer. A right-handed middle-order batsman, he had a long first-class career in English county cricket and represented England in all three international formats between 2001 and 2009.
| Full name | Owais Alam Shah |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | 22 October 1978 |
| Role | Middle-order batsman |
| National side | England |
| Test debut | 2006, against India |
| Test matches | 6 |
| One Day Internationals | 71 (2001–2009) |
| Twenty20 Internationals | 17 |
| Domestic teams | Middlesex (1995–2010), Essex (2011–2013), Hampshire (2014–2015, T20), Wellington Firebirds, Kolkata Knight Riders, Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Rajasthan Royals |
Shah came through the youth ranks at Middlesex, making his first-class debut for the county in 1995. He went on to spend fifteen seasons with Middlesex before joining Essex in 2011. He retired from first-class cricket in 2013, after which he continued in the shorter format with Hampshire in the 2014 and 2015 Twenty20 seasons.
Shah represented England in Tests, One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals. He played 71 ODIs and 17 T20Is between 2001 and 2009.
His Test debut came in 2006 against India, where he announced himself with an innings of 88. Opportunities at the highest level were nonetheless limited, and he did not feature in a third Test until the 2008–09 series against the West Indies. With Michael Vaughan having retired and Ian Bell dropped, Shah was given a chance to establish himself at number three. A modest series, however, led to him being replaced by Ravi Bopara, and he ended his Test career with six appearances.
Shah was a notable figure in the early years of the Indian Premier League. He played for the Kolkata Knight Riders during the 2009 and 2010 seasons, before being signed by Kochi Tuskers Kerala for the next two seasons. After the Kochi franchise was excluded from the 2012 season, he turned out for the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 5. He also had a short stint with the Wellington Firebirds in New Zealand domestic cricket.
Shah was among a generation of English batsmen who combined a long county career with one of the earliest English presences in the IPL. While his Test career remained brief, his ODI record across the 2000s and his domestic output for Middlesex and Essex marked him as a steady middle-order presence in English cricket during the period.