Owais joined Essex on a three-year deal after being released by Middlesex. He has won 6 England Test caps making his Test debut versus India in Mumbai in March 2006 whilst his last appearance for England was against West Indies in Port of Spain in March 2009. Additionally, he has appeared in 71 One-day international appearances A stylish and classical batsman, Owais made his County debut for Middlesex in 1996 and was capped four years later subsequently proving to be a stalwart of their line-up in all forms of the game until his release at the end of the 2010 campaign.

His introduction for Essex in 2011 was delayed by a stint in the IPL but when he did arrive, he proved a valuable performer in all three domestic competitions with a string of useful scores and a number of match-winning contributions.

Thus far, Owais has scored more than 15,000 first-class runs including 42 centuries at an average of 42.01