Cricket Australia are to seek clarification from their English counterparts about an incident in which England all-rounder Moeen Ali says he was called “Osama” by an unnamed Australian player during an Ashes test in 2015.



Moeen, who is a Muslim, made the allegation in his autobiography, which is being serialised in The Times newspaper, saying the apparent reference to Islamist militant Osama bin Laden came during his Ashes debut in Cardiff.

“It was a great first Ashes Test in terms of my personal performance,” said Moeen, who scored 77 and took five wickets in what was his first Ashes match. “However there was one incident which had distracted me. An Australian player had turned to me on the field and said, ‘Take that, Osama’.

Is Jimmy Anderson the GOAT? Who cares, just enjoy him while you can | Barney Ronay Read more

“I could not believe what I had heard. I remember going really red. I have never been so angry on a cricket field.”

In reaction to the allegation, a Cricket Australia Spokesperson said: “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, and are following up with the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) as a matter of urgency to seek further clarification around the alleged incident.”

Moeen claims he spoke to his England coach, Trevor Bayliss, about the slur, who raised it with the Australia coach, Darren Lehmann. Lehmann then sought an explanation from the player, who denied making the comment.

“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 for there is a world of difference between the words ‘Osama’ and ‘part-timer’,” Moeen writes. “Although I couldn’t have mistaken ‘part-timer’ for ‘Osama’, obviously I had to take the player’s word for it, though for the rest of the match I was angry.”

Moeen said the player approached him at the end of the series, at which point he denied making the comment and claimed “some of my best friends are Muslim”.

The Spin: sign up and get our weekly cricket email.

“I did not argue with him,” writes Moeen. “But I was so clear that is what he said. Why should I invent it out of the blue? I’ve got nothing against him. I have never had any fights with him before. I did not even know the guy. And I thought his denial was a standard response.”

Earlier this week, Moeen told The Times he had no sympathy for Australia’s banned cricketers and that he finds the whole team “rude”.

Australian cricket was thrown into turmoil earlier this year when captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and batsman Cameron Bancroft were banned after a ball-tampering scandal during a Test in South Africa.

Cricket Australia's excuses for latest Glenn Maxwell snub simply don't add up | Geoff Lemon Read more

Much of the cricketing world reacted with a mix of anger and schadenfreude, with media pundits and former players suggesting Australia had brought themselves undone with the aggressive way they played the game.

“Everyone you speak to ... they are the only team I’ve played against my whole life that I’ve actually disliked,” Moeen told The Times.

“Not because its Australia and they are the old enemy but because of the way they carry on and [their] disrespect of people and players.”

Moeen, who had a terrible 2017-18 Ashes in Australia but returned to form to help England beat India 4-1 in the recent test series, said he felt no sympathy for Smith, Warner and Bancroft.

“I’m someone who generally feels sorry for people when things go wrong but its difficult to feel sorry for them,” he said. “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.”