Nadine Osman

Have never been stopped at the airport when travelling with a team in uniform, but travel alone and get stopped for 40 minutes!! Joke

— Moeen Ali (@MoeenAli) April 9, 2016

The England cricketer Moeen Ali says he was stopped by border officers on his return to the country from the T20 world cup in India.

Ali arrived at Birmingham Airport on April 9 afternoon, but was detained by the UK Border Force for 40 minutes.Ali took to Twitter to complain that he was never stopped when he was travelling through airports with the rest of the England team.

Describing the experience as “hard times”, he was supported by fellow English cricketers Adil Rashid and Owais Shah, the latter saying “your beard might have something to do with it”.

Ali wrote: “Have never been stopped at the airport when travelling with a team in uniform, but travel alone and get stopped for 40 minutes!! Joke.”

Birmingham Airport officials confirmed Ali had been stopped by UK Border Force agents, but suggested this was because he had “exceeded his duty-free allowance”.

A spokeswoman for the Home Office declined to comment the cricketer’s case specifically.