Cricket Australia is to investigate claims made by England all-rounder Moeen Ali that an Australian player called him ‘Osama’ during the 2015 Ashes.
England were hosts for the series and won it 3-2 to regain the Ashes.
Moeen, 31, has made the accusation in his soon to be released autobiography.
“Remarks of this nature are unacceptable and have no place in our sport, or in society,” said a Cricket Australia spokesperson.
“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.”
In an extract of Moeen's book in The Times, he said: “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 [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'.”
The alleged slur appears to be a reference to Islamist terrorist Osama Bin Laden. Moeen, who was born in Birmingham, is a Muslim of Pakistani and English heritage.
Moeen claimed the incident happened during the first Test, where he scored 77 runs and took five wickets as England beat Australia by 169 runs at Cardiff. BBC
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