England cricketer Moeen Ali has spoken about racist abuse hurled at him during games, recounting one occasion where a member of the crowd asked him what time his kebab shop opened.
The comment came as the 30-year-old fielded for England in the Ashes in Australia. But the all-rounder from Birmingham brushed it off as "nothing major".
"Somebody asked me what time my kebab shop opened, but that is about it," said the cricketer of mixed English and Pakistani heritage, who is about to captain England for the first time in Perth.
Ali said he was "not fazed whatsoever" by such remarks and insisted he took it "on the chin".
However, his account is likely to raise scrutiny about unacceptable remarks with regards to "sledging" - a practice where players try to gain an advantage by insulting or verbally intimidating players on the opposite team.
When asked if he had to contend with exchanges on the pitch, Ali said: "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 anti-racism policy.
The 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 chose not to.
"As much as sometimes you feel you want to, you can't afford to do that," he said. "I just like to get on with my own game, and it doesn't faze me whatsoever."
However, the sportsman, who has been hampered by a sore finger, said he was more troubled by his lack of productivity in the first two tests.
https://news.sky.com/story/england-...asked-what-time-my-kebab-shop-opened-11162612
like that joke.
