ESPNcricinfo
The ECB is seeking to verify a video that appears to show England batter Ben Duckett intoxicated and unable to find his way back to the team hotel during the squad’s mini-break to Noosa between the second and third Ashes Tests.
The video emerged on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, hours after men’s managing director Rob Key confirmed that there would be an investigation into the trip to the Sunshine Coast resort town. The break followed an eight-wicket defeat in Brisbane that left England 2–0 down in the series.
The four days in Noosa, which the ECB emphasised was not a holiday, had been organised a year in advance by head coach Brendon McCullum, who believed the time away would refresh the players. Several squad members embraced the opportunity for rest, with no training scheduled during this period.
Although England went on to produce their strongest performance of the tour in Adelaide, they ultimately fell to an 82-run defeat as Australia secured an unassailable lead in the five-match series, retaining the Ashes inside just 11 days. Speaking at the MCG ahead of the fourth Test in Melbourne, which begins on Friday, Key said he would review the trip but maintained that the players had been “very well behaved.”