‘They’re not party animals’: Broad denies ‘drinking culture’ in England team

LONDON: Former England cricketer Stuart Broad rubbished the talks of the England men’s team indulging in heavy drinking during their Ashes tour to Australia, saying that senior players are not “party animals” and just a “couple of guys who made mistakes” got viral across all media.

England lost the Ashes Down Under by 4-1, snapping their 18-match winless streak in Australia at Melbourne, Joe Root’s two centuries, which broke his Test ton duck in Australia and the rise of Jacob Bethell towards the back end of the series being the key positives.

However, after the Ashes were lost during the Adelaide Test, a few clips of opener Ben Duckett seemingly drunk, and Jacob Bethell partying went viral on social media, which seemed to be coming from their trip to Noosa after the loss at Brisbane in the second Test. The pictures did not go down well with several English fans, and players were trolled for their off-field indulgences.

Speaking on the For the Love of Cricket podcast with co-host and star batter Jos Buttler, Broad said, “I look at this England team, they are not drinking. I have seen loads of things about a drinking culture, but there is not one. (Zak) Crawley, (Ollie) Pope, (Ben) Stokes, (Joe) Root, they are not really drinkers. They are not party animals”.

Broad said it was just a couple of guys making mistakes and them surfacing in the media, and it is upto the teammates to get their players out of such situations. “And that is when your culture is really strong”, he added.

Ahead of the fourth Test, England team’s managing director Rob Key had said that he would examine what actually happened during the break and decide whether any action was needed. “If there are things where people are saying that our players went out and drank excessively, then of course we will be looking into that”, Key said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

“Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol for an international cricket team is not something that I would expect to see at any stage, and it would be a fault not to look into what happened there. But from everything that I have heard so far, they were very well behaved”, he noted.

“I have read what has been written in the last day or so, and if it goes into where they are drinking lots and it is a stag do, all that type of stuff, that’s completely unacceptable. I am not a drinker. I think a drinking culture does not help anyone in any stretch whatsoever”, he added. (ANI)