'We need people like Michael to step up in cricket's fight against racism'

NEW DELHI:Moeen Alihas called Michael Vaughan to take an active role in English cricket's battle against racism as he opened up publicly for the first time on a controversial tweet from the former captain that suggested the England all-rounder should inquire whether young Muslims are terrorists to enhance societal safety.

In 2017, Adil Rayasked Vaughan on Twitter whether he expected Moeen to go around asking Muslims he didn't know whether they knew terrorists in between matches. To which Vaughan replied yes, if it helps "our kids' future and environment become a safer place".

In a documentary named 'Is Cricket Racist?', when Moeen was asked by Ray what he thought of Vaughan's tweets from 2017, the all-rounder described Vaughan’s views as "very silly and dumb”, while insisting that cricket needs people like him to step up in the fight against racism.

"It was very silly. Dumb really. We need people like him to step up for us. As Muslims, or any other faith really. And just be a bit smarter. I think he has also realised that times are changing and he has to change," Moeen was quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

The former England captain, Vaughan, issued an apology and was subsequently absolved of racism charges by the England Cricket Board's Cricket Discipline Commission. These charges were brought against him based on comments made about his former teammate, Azeem Rafiq.

Notably, Rafiq had made allegations against Vaughan and five other Yorkshire players, accusing the club of perpetuating institutional racism, but the commission cleared Vaughan of these accusations.

In the documentary, the all-rounder expressed his viewpoint that British Asian players are performing exceptionally well don’t get signed in professional cricket for some reason.

"There's (British Asian] players out there who are doing better than anyone else. People won't sign them for some reason. The South Asian player has to be almost outstanding most of the time, especially as a triallist whereas sometimes a white player doesn't have to be outstanding, and he is getting signed," Moeen said.

Moeen further stated that Rafiq's allegations and the subsequent repercussions have played a vital role in bringing about a much-needed "shake-up" within the game of cricket.

"Obviously sad [for Rafiq's experiences], but it also felt like the game needed a shake-up. The greatest thing that has come out of it for me is that people have a voice now, whereas before people have been very afraid to say anything," he said.