The Ashes 2017/18: Moeen Ali Reveals Racist Comments Directed At Him

England all-rounder Moeen Ali has sensationally claimed that he was subject to a racist comment from the crowd while he was fielding in the ongoing Ashes. The England star, however, did not mind the comment too much and is in no mood to complain about the exchange, calling it as ‘nothing major’.

“Somebody asked me what time my kebab shop opened, That’s about it. Nothing major. You take it on the chin,” Moeen revealed.

The left-handed batsman went on to insist that the Gabba crowd failed to live up to his expectations.

“It is more intense, but not as much as I thought it would be. I thought Brisbane would be a lot more of a buzz. I mean, there was a buzz. But it’s been pretty quiet, to be honest,” Moeen was quoted as saying by news.com.au.

The 30-year old also revealed how Australia vice-captain David Warner tried to get under his skin when he walked into bat at no.6 before his reply left the Australia opener a bit gasped.

“You’re batting a place too high,” Warner said to England’s new No.6 batsman.

In reply, Moeen said: “I’m batting two places too high, mate. It went straight over his head.”

Moeen, meanwhile, will be keen to focus solely on his on-field activities after lukewarm outings in the first two Tests. The off-spinner, who will lead England for the first time in an upcoming warm-up game, has had a forgettable series so far with the ball, picking up just two wickets at the cost of 98 runs each compared to Australia’s Nathan Lyon’s 11 at under 23.

Moeen is well aware of the fact that he has not lived up to the team’s expectations. One reason for the that could be his injured finger, but the tweaker did not make too many excuses for his under-performance so far.

“You feel like you’ve let the team down, and the captain down especially,” said Moeen. Lyon is bowling so well – everything, the revs, the areas he’s bowling … he’s just bowled the best I’ve seen him bowl. The hardest thing is you try to compare yourself to that, and then you try even harder.”

“I haven’t bowled great at all, but I don’t want to make any excuses,” he said. “It has to have played a part (in my performance) – especially in the first game, I couldn’t feel the ball on my fingers, and it was very sore.”

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