England cricketer, Moeen Ali, has revealed that he had a racist comment about “kebab shops” directed at him from the crowd while fielding during an Ashes match in Australia.
The all-rounder refused to make a big deal out of the situation and admitted he takes insults from the supporters “on the chin”.
Ali said: “Somebody asked me what time my kebab shop opened, but that’s about it.”
The cricketing superstar from Birmingham stated that the crowd also get involved but it doesn’t appear to faze him.
He added: “From the crowd you get quite a bit.
“You get some good ones and you get some not so good guys…but you take it on the chin.”
The comments follow a zero-tolerance policy to any transgressions in the series, in line with the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) anti-racism policy.
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The 30-year-old cricketer spoke of benign banter restricted to jibes about his elevated position in the batting order after he was pushed up from eighth to sixth.
He said: “One of the players asked if I was batting one place too high.
“I said I was actually two spots too high…but it went straight over his head.”
Ali said he had been tempted to respond more powerfully in the past but restrained himself.
He said: “As much as sometimes you feel you want to, you can’t afford to do that.
“I just like to get on with my own game, and it doesn’t faze me whatsoever.
“I knew how tough it was going to be in Australia. I never get too over-confident, or too down. I just go with the flow.”
