AWARD-WINNING sportswoman and cricket ambassador Salma Bi ended 2013 on a real high as she married her dream partner and fellow philanthropist Sohail Mughal.
And 2014 has been just as eventful with local, national and even international success achieved by the Birmingham-based nurse, whose devotion to sport is unstinting.
JANUARY
This year began on an exciting note when Salma staged the unofficial Women's World Dodgeball Championship at the Birmingham Indoor Futsal Arena.
The event featured teams and players from Manchester, London, Brighton and Yorkshire and the overall winners were the Arctic Whales.
Funds were raised for a wonderful cause - Acid Survivors Trust International.
FEBRUARY
February saw Salma in the limelight when she featured in a two-page Profile Special in The Asian Today newspaper, a great supporter of our champion over the years.
In the article, Salma spoke a lot not just about her sport, but also her lifestyle, her work and recent marriage to Sohail, a head teacher in Pakistan who is endeavoring to bring better education facilities to the country.
Salma also revealed in February that there would be a thrilling new development in her annual T10 Indoor Cricket World Cup Tournament.
This year, the competition was to invite men's teams for the first time, and the event would support the Read Foundation.
A registered charity in the UK, Read Foundation originally started work in Pakistan and Kashmir where it runs 340 schools educating 80,000 children, employing 4,000 teachers and looking after 8,000 orphans, making it one of the largest educational NGOs of rural Pakistan.
MARCH
March was a busy month for Salma as she organised the T10 Tournament, which was to take place at the Birmingham Futsal Arena and host four women's and four men's teams.
APRIL
Saturday, April 5, saw 27 women take part in their T10 World Cup, featuring players from as far afield as London, Yorkshire, Walsall and Wales.
The overall winners were Australia, who finished with a 100% record and were deserved champions for a second year in a row. England, India and Pakistan also took part.
There were 24 men involved in their competition and it was the West Indies who emerged as winners, with South Africa and Bangladesh also participating.
MAY
March and April were all about T10 cricket - but May was all about outdoor cricket for Salma.
The first Asian woman to play for Worcestershire, the prolific wicket-taking off-spinner revealed in this month that she had landed a two-year sponsorship deal with SM Cricket, an internationally-renowned firm based in India, but with a base in England through Deal Direct (UK).
SM sponsored the legendary Sachin Tendulkar among others and Salma was also delighted to accept the contract as her husband bears the initials SM.
JUNE
This month saw Salma's cricket progress well, playing for Birmingham club Five Ways Old Edwardians and North Wales team Hawarden Park.
She also took part in an enthralling interview with the Muslim Sports Council, of which she is an ambassador alongside famous names like Saqlain Mushtaq (cricket) and boxers Danny Williams and Haroon Khan.
JULY
In July, Sohail Mughal spoke to this blog about his pride at his wife's cricket achievements and her being nominated in the Women in Cricket category at this year's inaugural Asian Cricket Awards.
AUGUST
Salma and Sohail launched an appeal to raise £20,000 to build a primary and secondary school in a deprived area of Pakistan for up to 1,000 children.
It was also announced that Salma was to organise a 30-hour non-stop futsal marathon in 2015 to raise funds for the school project.
SEPTEMBER
Salma opened her doors to prove her blogs and are not all about her, but embrace all sports people who want publicity - especially women.
We interviewed Ambreen Sadiq, an up and coming boxer from Keighley, Yorkshire, aiming to become the next Nicola Adams.
September was also the month to celebrate another amazing cricket season for Salma.
Her best bowling figures came when she represented Five Ways and opened the attack against Lutterworth CC, claiming 9-6-7-2.
She added to her list of honours when she represented Cheshire based on her performances for Hawarden Park CC.
Salma was also invited to represent southern team Club Cricket Conference against on-tour side Hong Kong, bagging 3-7 in six overs. She now looks forward to going on tour with CCC next year in Barbados.
For Hawarden, Salma made a career best score of 71 and helped the team win their T20 Cheshire League and Cup double.
OCTOBER
One of - if not THE greatest sporting achievement of Salma's life occurred in October.
At the first-ever Asian Cricket Awards staged at Lord's, Salma won the Women in Cricket category.
This delivered international recognition to the spin bowler, who has won many past plaudits and awards for getting more women involved in the sport.
She is not just a great player - she is also a tremendous ambassador for the game.
Player of the Year went to Worcestershire and England's Moeen Ali - so that just proves the quality of guest that graced this event.
For her achievement, Salma received media attention all over the world.
NOVEMBER
In November, Salma announced her 30-hour futsal marathon would be held at the Birmingham Futsal Arena on April 4 and 5, 2015.
She has already hosted and participated in 10-hour and 20-hour non-stop marathons at the same venue over the past two years, raising thousands of pounds for various charities.
This blog also revealed more this month about the main man in Salma's life - Sohail Mughal.
DECEMBER
Salma's main sporting achievements have been about cricket, but in December, Futsal took over the headlines!
The Great White Sharks, formed in 2011 and the first-ever all-Asian female team to compete in the Birmingham Women's Futsal League, won their first silverware when they finished top of the Championship, beating ABCDE FC in their final game.
Sharks had been relegated from the Premiership the previous season, but bounced right back in style, with Vicky Roe scoring an amazing 65 goals for the team.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
Other highlights of 2014 for Salma were a place in the final of the Birmingham Sports Awards, plus a visit to Pakistan and a tour of Lahore PCB with Sohail.
Also, on December 20, Salma and Sohail celebrate a year of marriage. Congratulations!
WHAT A YEAR FOR SALMA BI! AND 2015 COULD BE EVEN BETTER!
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