It's more important to be a good person: Moeen says personal sledging in cricket is unnecessary

The England allrounder, who says he was subjected to a racial slur from an Australian fielder during the 2015 Ashes, believes there is "no room" for abuse within the game of cricket

^{England allrounder Moeen Ali}

Moeen Ali says there is no need for sledging to turn personal, insisting "it's more important to be a good person".

The England allrounder, who says he was subjected to a racial slur from an Australian fielder during the 2015 Ashes, believes there is "no room" for abuse within the game of cricket.

Moeen was allegedly called "Osama" during that Test match in Cardiff three years ago - the unnamed Australian in question denied making the remark at the time and two Cricket Australia internal investigations have failed to throw up corroborating evidence - and it is those sort of comments which he wants stripped from the sport.

"There are ways of trying to put your opponent off and sometimes you don’t have to say anything," Moeen told the BBC.

"You can intimidate a player by just standing there. There are ways of doing it. It’s not my sort of way it. Sledging’s always been serious but in good humour as well – more of a mental thing rather than someone going personal or taking it too far.

Moeen is critical of personal sledging in cricket

"Personally, I don’t do anything. I don’t feel like I need to. You can have the passion, but it’s more important to be a good person and try and play cricket the right way."

Referring to the "Osama" incident, which he chose not to report in 2015 and does not wish to pursue any further now - as evidenced by his relutance to identify the culprit, Moeen said: "You always get some stuff from the crowd here and there as well but that was the one that really, not just upset me but you can’t believe someone’s actually said that.

"If that’s trying to put your opponent off then… There’s no room for that in life in general, not just in sports."

Moeen could in theory find himself on the opposing side to the player responsible for the comment when England take on Australia in next summer's Ashes series. But he is not too bothered by the prospect.

"I don’t know if I’ll be in the squad next year. To be honest, I don’t think that far ahead," he said.

"If ever I come across him or whoever has the same mindset, then so be it. It doesn’t bother me too much."