Moeen Ali decides to do away with "Osama" investigations

Moeen Ali was referred to as Osama by an Australian player in the 2015 Ashes.

Moeen Ali. (Sky Sports)

England all-rounder Moeen Ali has decided to do away with the "Osama" allegations in the 2015  Ashes series. Last week, Moeen Ali said in a statement that an Australian player alleged him saying "Osama" during the Cardiff Test in the 2015 Ashes, which he had told the England coach Trevor Bayliss about, who then took the issue up with Australia's then coach Darren Lehmann.

Speaking to Australia's Daily Telegraph, Bayliss confirmed Moeen's reluctance in pursuing the matter any further. "He didn't want it to go any further. He was happy for it [to be dealt with between the two teams]. He's a very softly-spoken sort of a bloke. He doesn't want to create too many problems for anyone," he said.

"I'm not going to make too much of it, it was bloody three years ago, let's move on. [Cricket Australia] can do what they like I suppose, everyone has sort of forgotten about it and moved on since then. I don't see it as any real big deal. It was a hard-fought series. But no, I thought [relations after that point] were OK. You're not party to what goes on out on the field and certainly, nothing else was reported or anything through that series so we just left it at that."

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia has also clarified their take on the issue. "We have followed up with the England and Wales Cricket Board and confirmed the incident was investigated at the time," CA said in a statement.

"Moeen elected not to progress the matter any further at the time and we have not been able to ascertain any new additional evidence through our enquiries. As such, the matter is considered closed. We take a zero-tolerance approach to remarks of this nature, they have no place in our sport, or in society, and any allegations raised with us are treated seriously and respectfully."

(Inputs from Cricbuzz)

 
 

By Anshuman Roy - 24 Sep, 2018

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