English all-rounder Moeen Ali has recently claimed that one Australian cricketer had called him ‘Osama’ during the 2015 Ashes Series in England. He has also added that the Australian cricket fans have abused him during his tour in Australia.
Soon, Ali is going to release his autobiography where he made those accusations. Ali has a worse feeling with the Australian cricket.
He wrote, “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’ [a reference to Islamic terrorist Osama Bin Laden]. I could not believe what I had heard. I remember going really red. I have never been so angry on a cricket field.”
Ali further added that they had discussed in that issue with their oppositions at later where that player denied that accusation.
He wrote on that, “I told a couple of the guys what the player had said to me and I think Trevor Bayliss [the England coach] 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.”
Ali has also added his experiences on the Australian tour which was very disappointed for him as the Australians were almost abusing him.
Ali wrote on that, “The first game I ever played against them, in Sydney, just before the 2015 World Cup, they were not just going hard at you, they were almost abusing you. That was the first time it hit me. I gave them the benefit of the doubt, but the more I played against them they were just as bad, the Ashes here (in 2015) they were worse actually. Not intimidating, just rude. Individually they are fine and the Aussies we’ve had at Worcester have been fantastic lovely guys.”
Cricket Australia (CA) has taken the ‘Osama’ comment seriously as they seek “further clarification” from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) “as a matter of urgency”.
A CA official told cricket.com.au, “Remarks of this nature are unacceptable and have no place in our sport, or in society. We have a clear set of values and behaviours that comes with representing our country. We take this matter very seriously…”
