The Australian cricket is drowning in cusp of controversies after the controversial Sand Paper gate incident in South Africa. As of now, English all-rounder Moeen Ali has alleged that an Australian player called him “Osama”. Ali narrated the incident in his autobiography.
I have never been so angry on a cricket field- Ali
“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.”
England won the Ashes series 3-2 in 2015.
“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.”
Ali who is of Pakistani descent also alleged that the Australian players also abused him in the practise game.
“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.
Following his claims, Cricket Australia will now investigate on the matter.
