Moeen Ali responds to Michael Vaughan's controversial tweet on Muslims in 2017, terms it 'very silly, dumb'

Six years after former England cricketer Michael Vaughan's controversial tweet which suggested Moeen Ali should ask young Muslims if they are terrorists 'to help make society safer', the English all-rounder has responded.

Opening up on the former England captain's tweet from 2017 - which sparked an uproar and public debate, Ali has given his opinion on the entire episode in a new documentary titled 'Is Cricket Racist?' In the documentary, the all-rounder has dubbed Vaughan's controversial statements on the Muslim community as dumb and silly.

The documentary titled will be aired on Channel 4 in the UK. Moeen, while being interviewed by presenter Adil Ray in the documentary, said, "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 realized that times are changing and he has to change."

Vaughan has apologised for his controversial comments on the micro-blogging site Twitter. His most recent apology came at the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) racism hearings in March. Vaughan was cleared by the court of having made a racist comment to cricketer Azeem Rafiq and three others from Yorkshire of South Asian heritage before the start of a T20 game in 2009.

Back in 2017, when questioned by Ray on the subject of terrorism, Vaughan had said that he wouldn't mind Moeen asking Muslims about knowing terrorists if it helps "our kids' future and environment become a safer place".

The 36-year-old further added in the documentary that several British Asian players are doing really well, but they 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 Ali said.

The all-rounder while speaking on Azeem Rafiq's racism allegations against Yorkshire cricket, which rocked Eglish cricket, said it was a much-needed shake-up.

"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," Moeen added further.