Despite months of preparation for the Ashes, England have looked well short of Australia’s level and have already lost the series inside just 11 days. On-field struggles have now been compounded by off-field scrutiny, with questions raised over England’s conduct during a mid-series break in Queensland.
ECB to probe England’s Noosa trip after ‘stag do’ claims
England Cricket Board (ECB) managing director Rob Key has promised to investigate reports surrounding the team’s four-night stay in Noosa, following suggestions that the trip resembled a “stag do” rather than a recovery camp. The squad traveled to the resort town after suffering an eight-wicket defeat in the second Test at the Gabba.
The break was officially described by England as a “mid-series reset”, with head coach Brendon McCullum previously calling it “excellent” preparation ahead of the Adelaide Test. However, England went on to lose again in Adelaide, confirming Australia’s Ashes triumph in emphatic fashion.
Key, who did not accompany the team to Noosa, said he was initially assured that players had behaved responsibly. Speaking at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday, he acknowledged that recent reports had forced the ECB to take a closer look.
“If there are things where people are saying that our players went out and drank excessively, then of course we’ll be looking into that,” Key said. “Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol for an international cricket team is not something I would expect to see at any stage, and it would be a fault not to investigate what happened.”
Key added that, based on what he had been told so far, the players’ conduct appeared to be within acceptable limits. However, he stressed that any suggestion of excessive drinking would be “completely unacceptable”.
“If it goes into this idea of it being a stag do and people drinking heavily, that’s not okay. A drinking culture doesn’t help anyone. I have no issue with the Noosa trip if it was about switching off, going to the beach, sitting down for meals and having the odd drink. But if it goes beyond that, then that’s an issue, and that’s what we’ll find out,” he said.
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