Cricket Australia to probe claims of racism made by Moeen Ali

England allrounder Moeen Ali has thrust Australia’s much talked about cricket culture into the limelight once more with sensational allegations of racism in his autobiography.

In his book he claims that he was racially abused in the first Ashes Test at Cardiff in 2015.

Moeen wrote in the book which is being serialized in the Times: “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.

“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.

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“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.”

Cricket Australia have issued a statement that indicates they will meet with the England Cricket Board to probe the incident.

“Remarks of this nature are unacceptable and have no place in our sport, or in society,” a CA spokesperson said. “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.”