England to probe reports of excessive drinking during Ashes break

England team director Rob Key said they would look into reports that players drank excessively during a break between the second and third Ashes tests this month.

Australia wrapped up an 82-run win on day five of the third Test in Adelaide on Sunday to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series and retain the urn.

After eight-wicket defeats in Perth and Brisbane, the England camp took a break in Noosa, with reports in British and Australian media saying the players were drinking throughout their time in the holiday hotspot.

“Headlines can be misleading at times, saying it’s a stag do and stuff like that. Stories of players drinking six days solid — that’s unacceptable,” Key told the BBC in an interview published on Tuesday.

“We’ll be looking into seeing what the facts are as opposed to the things that have been embellished or elaborated on. When you see a picture of five or six guys sitting down for lunch, a couple of them having drinks, you need to see what’s going on with that.

“If it’s true that it became a stag do and people are out drinking all the time excessively, that’s not acceptable. I don’t agree with a drinking culture. I don’t like a drinking culture.”

Prior to the Ashes series, Key had urged England’s squad to not “get caught doing stupid things”.

The fourth Test of the series begins on Friday in Melbourne.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald said he expected his team to be firing on all cylinders after celebrating their victory on Sunday.

“There’s no instructions from me, around that, they’re all adults,” McDonald said on Tuesday.

“They know how they need to get ready for a test match, and they’ll be ready to go come Boxing Day morning. I don’t think there’ll be any hangover.

“Maybe yesterday there was a hangover, and maybe today, I’m not sure.”

Reuters