Cricket Australia are set to investigate claims by England’s Moeen Ali that an Australia player called him ‘Osama’ during the 2015 Ashes series.
The England all-rounder made the shocking claims in his yet to released autobiography.
In an extract from the book published in the Times, Moeen wrote: “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’.”
Moeen claims the incident happened in the 2015 Ashes series.
In response to the Englishman’s claims, Cricket Australia have stated that they will seek more clarification on the matter from their England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) counterparts.
“Remarks of this nature are unacceptable and have no place in our sport, or in society,” a Cricket Australia spokesperson stated.
“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 as a matter of urgency to seek further clarification around the alleged incident.”
The controversial incident took place in the 2015 Ashes held in England with the hosts going on to ultimately clinch the series 3-2.