‘How many f…… times?’ Ben Stokes vents anger, as England’s drinking culture reviewed

England’s chief executive of men’s cricket, Rob Key, spoke exclusively to British media on Tuesday and promised to investigate his team’s drinking habits following a report published in London. Telegram He said the team’s mid-Ashes beach holiday in Noosa was like a “bachelorette party”.

The tourists had a Queensland getaway between the second and third Tests; this break was the planned pre-series to help the players freshen up.

Key, who did not attend the Noosa trip, said binge drinking was unacceptable if proven.

“If there are things that people are saying about our players going out and drinking excessively then of course we will investigate that,” Key said in reports widely disseminated to British media.

“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 mistake not to investigate what’s going on there. From everything I’ve heard so far they’ve actually behaved quite well. They’ve behaved very well.”

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“We’re well on our way to finding out exactly what happened and everything I’ve heard so far. [is] they sat, had lunch, had dinner, did not go out until late, all this while drinking the odd drink. I don’t care about this. “If it exceeds that level, that’s a problem for me.”

Key revealed he was investigating reports that players were seen drinking during their pre-Ashes tour the night before the match in New Zealand.

A social media clip posted by a member of the public showed Wellington white-ball captain Brook and Jacob Bethell.

“I didn’t think it was worth the official warnings, but it was probably worth the unofficial warnings,” Key said.

Australian media did not have the opportunity to cover Key or any tourists on Tuesday because the lunchtime press conference at the MCG was unexpectedly cancelled.

“An update from us; we will not be fielding anyone today,” a team spokesman said.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

Key’s comments came after former Ashes-winning skipper Andrew Strauss suggested a full review was needed.

Strauss was tasked with reviewing the 4-0 series defeat in 2021-22 but his recommendations, which included reducing the number of first-class matches, restructuring the County Championship and strengthening elite player development, were largely ignored.

“So here it is, another group of ambitious England cricketers have made the journey to Australia, full of hope and optimism only to have their dreams dashed after just 11 days of cricket,” Strauss wrote on LinkedIn.

“[Brendon] McCullum and Stokes will equally face intense scrutiny for the decisions they made in preparation for this tour. [Ashley] Giles and [Chris] Silverwood did just that after the final lap. And Andy Flower after 2013-14 and Duncan Fletcher after 2006-07.

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“While they know this applies to the region, none of the above are responsible for England losing so consistently in Australia since 1986-87. We have been hurt badly there over and over again because Australia is a better place.” setdelivered by a better high-performance system.

“If we are truly serious about changing this depressingly one-sided narrative, we need to look beyond sacking England coaches and captains and ask whether we are truly willing to make the changes necessary to break this trend.”

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