London, Dec 30 The England team heaved a collective sigh of relief as the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has given the players a clean chit in the case of alleged excessive drinking during a team-building trip to Noosa between the second and third Tests in The Ashes tour 2025-26.
Multiple reports had claimed that England players had indulged in excessive drinking during the trip organised as a team-building exercise for the players to recover from the defeat and get ready for the next match.
However, there are reports now claiming that the ECB has not found any misconduct on the part of the English players during the trip.
Although several videos of top-order batter Ben Duckett emerged on social media that showed him drunk and almost out of his senses after partying till late in the night, the ECB has concluded that there was 'no misconduct' and therefore no disciplinary action will be taken against the players.
As per a report in The Daily Mail, if the ECB had found anything to be of concern, it would have been identified and resolved immediately rather than waiting for the Ashes loss.
"The procedure of the inquiry was not disclosed to the public, and the verdict was drafted against ‘beer drinking’ and no other misconduct," claimed the report.
According to reports, top ECB official Rob Key claimed that the reason for the 'no misconduct' verdict is that nothing was flagged by the security apparatus around the team in Australia.
"The England cricket team had security personnel assigned for the trip to Noosa, who were also authorised to intervene if any misbehaviour or red flag activities appeared. However, they weren’t needed to jump in, and the break was more like a bachelorette party," the report said.
Nevertheless, this will give the England team much relief as it heads for Sydney for their next and last assignment Down Under -- the fifth and final Test of the series starting on January 4.
England, after slumping to an unassailable 0-3 deficit, salvaged some pride and avoided a whitewash against Australia by winning the fourth Test in Melbourne within two days. Ben Stokes and his boys would like to end the series on a high note by making it 3-2 by winning the final encounter in Sydney.
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