A video of England cricketer Ben Duckett, clearly drunk and lost while trying to find his way back to the team hotel during a break between Ashes Tests, is making the rounds on social media.
In the clip-already viral on X-Duckett looks totally out of it, stumbling and confused. This surfaced just hours after Rob Key, the managing director, announced they’d be looking into the team’s recent trip to Noosa. The England and Wales Cricket Board made it clear this wasn’t meant to be a holiday.
After losing to Australia by eight wickets in the second Ashes Test in Brisbane, head coach Brendon McCullum organized the Noosa trip to give the players a breather. Key insisted the squad had behaved well, even as he launched the investigation.
“We are aware of content circulating on social media,” the ECB statement read. “We have high expectations for behaviour, accepting that players are often under intense levels of scrutiny, with established processes that we follow when conduct falls below expectations. We also support players that need assistance. We will not comment further at this stage while we establish the facts.”
He also pointed out that international cricketers shouldn’t get blackout drunk. That’s just not the standard.
“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,” he said. “Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol for an international cricket team is not something that I’d expect to see at any stage, and it would be a fault not to look into what happened there. From everything that I’ve heard so far, they actually were pretty well behaved. Very well behaved.”
“We’ve got enough ways of finding out exactly what happened. Everything that I’ve heard so far [is] that they sat down, had lunch, had dinner, didn’t go out late-all of that-and had the odd drink. I don’t mind that,” he added.
With England already down 3-0 and the Ashes out of reach, Ben Stokes said he’s focused on looking after his players rather than getting caught up in the drama. Ahead of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, he put player welfare first.
“How I handle this moment right now is the most important thing to me. The welfare of everyone in there and probably some certain individuals as well is the most important thing to me right now as England captain. I know how this kind of stuff can affect people, and my role as England captain is to protect my players as much as I possibly can.”
On top of all the struggles on the field, this latest incident just piles on to what’s already been a tough Ashes tour for England. The team keeps falling short, and the gap between them and Australia keeps growing.