Barack zoom humour gives Moin a t20 lift (From York Press)

Barack zoom humour gives Moin a t20 lift

11:43am Saturday 25th August 2012 in Sport By Graham Hardcastle

Moin Ashraf has received a congratulations message from Barack Obama upon Yorkshire reaching today’s Friends Life t20 Finals Day at Cardiff.

Welcome to the world of parody Twitter accounts.

It is something that is all the rage in social networking at present.

Just ask Kevin Pietersen, who got himself in a tizz when an account was set up parodying him under the name of @KPGenius.

There were messages posted accentuating the arrogance of the England batsman. To the majority of folk they were hilarious, to Pietersen they were not.

He even had his lawyer try to get it shut down. Eventually, the man behind it – a cricket fan – shut it down himself.

Well, up and coming Yorkshire fast bowler Ashraf is also the subject of a similar parody account under the name of @OfficialMoinA23.

But there is a big difference – Ashraf, who will line up against Sussex in the first t20 semi-final this morning, loves his.

Without lifting a finger, the 20-year-old has gained plenty of fame and acclaim.

The account has got more than 5,000 followers, including most of the Yorkshire dressing room, which is more than double the number following Ashraf’s regular account.

Tweets appear regularly suggesting Official Moin bowls searing 95 miles per hour yorkers and is the greatest thing since sliced bread, while the account recently renamed the Olympics ‘the Molympics’ in honour of himself and Mo Farah.

Altered song lyrics about Official Moin’s bowling exploits are also regularly seen.

The identity of the person behind it has remained a closely guarded secret, with even Ashraf not 100 per cent sure who it is. But he has a fairly good idea.

“A lot of names have been thrown about and I’m not accusing him, but I’ve got a strange feeling it’s Ryan Sidebottom,” said the real Moin, who has excelled with 14 wickets from ten t20 matches this summer.

“He comes into the dressing room acting like he doesn’t know what Official Moin’s written, but the lyrics to the songs that have been posted are the type Ryan listens to.

“It’s making me quite famous actually. There’s nothing too bad on there, and it’s all good humour. I’m happy with it.

“Official Moin’s very arrogant, has his head held up high and is proud to be a fast bowler.

“I just keep mine down and get on with it. It doesn’t represent me. Hopefully one day I can bowl that fast though.

“I did see that Obama one. It’s easy to doctor, but that did make me laugh. To have Barack Obama tweeting about Yorkshire cricket is hilarious.”

While Twenty20 is perfect for the such fun and frolics, things have now got serious for Yorkshire now they are within touching distance of their maiden t20 title.

And Ashraf – the real one – is in confident mood: “To get to our first Finals Day is a great achievement. To be a part has put a massive smile on my face,” he added.

“If you’re going to win tournaments, you’ve got to beat the best. Sussex have been very impressive this season.

“We’ve just got to go out there and hope that we have our on day. We want to lift that trophy. We’re going into it with a lot of confidence.”