Moeen Ali alleges Australian player called him 'Osama'

​

England all-rounder Moeen Ali has alleged that one of the Australian team members, during the 2015 Ashes directed racial slurs at him, calling him 'Osama'.

The Birmingham-born cricketer of Pakistani descent has narrated the incident, which reportedly took place in Cardiff, in his autobiography.

A passage from his book reads: "It was a great first Ashes Test in terms of my personal performance. However, there was one incident which had distracted me. An Australian player had turned to me on the field and said, 'Take that, Osama.' I could not believe what I had heard. I remember going really red. I have never been so angry on a cricket field."

"I told a couple of the guys what the player had said to me and I think Trevor Bayliss must have raised it with Darren Lehmann, the Australians' coach.

"Lehmann asked the player, 'Did you call Moeen Osama?' He denied it, saying, 'No, I said, 'Take that, you part-timer.'' I must say I was amused when I heard that, obviously I had to take the player's word for it, though for the rest of the match I was angry."

"Guys were sticking their fingers up at me. I expected Australia to be quite rough, but not as bad as this. I hadn't heard such comments for a long time. I got some of this abuse even in the practice games," he further added.

The 31-year-old has, in the past, been the victim of racial abuse - last year, he was troubled by a heckler during the Ashes. He had, however, brushed it off at that time, calling it 'nothing major'.

"Somebody asked me what time my kebab shop opened, but that is about it," he had said.

In a bid to counter 'sledging' that crosses lines and ensure that there is no discrimination when it comes to the sport, the ICC had adopted a strict Anti-Racism olicy in 2012.

​

​