"I must say I was amused when I heard that for there is a world of difference between the words 'Osama' and 'part-timer'. 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," said Moeen Ali
London: England all-rounder Moeen Ali has made a shocking revelation that an Australian player called him "Osama" during the 2015 Ashes Test series.
According to Moeen, the incident happened during the first Test in Cardiff. The hosts won by 169 runs with Moeen taking five wickets and scoring 92.
"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 have never been so angry on a cricket field," the 31-year-old has written in his upcoming autobiography, which is serialised in The Times, according to a report in Daily Mail website on Saturday.
"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," Moeen said.
"Lehmann asked the player, 'Did you call Moeen Osama?' He denied it, saying, 'No, I said, 'Take that, you part-timer'," Moeen added.
Moeen, who recently took nine wickets against India in Southampton Test to lead England to a 60-run series-clinching victory, continued, "I must say I was amused when I heard that for there is a world of difference between the words 'Osama' and 'part-timer'. 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."
Cricket Australia (CA) has reacted to Moeen's claims and said such remarks are "unacceptable".
"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," a CA spokesperson was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia's website.
"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," the official added.
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