Melbourne, Dec 23 (IANS) England cricket team’s managing director Rob Key defended the team’s four-day trip to Noosa, taken between the second and third Ashes Tests, and stated that the board is investigating claims that their travel was turned into a beer-filled stag party.

Away from the field, England’s mid-series trip to Noosa, a well-heeled coastal resort in Queensland, has also come under the microscope. The squad headed there for four nights after their heavy defeat at the Gabba, describing it as a chance to reset rather than a break for leisure. Head coach Brendon McCullum, who organised the visit, described it as “excellent” and believed it would leave the team refreshed ahead of the third Test.

Key did not join the squad in Noosa and initially said he had no concerns about the players’ conduct. However, following the loss in Adelaide, reports emerged likening the trip to a stag do. He said he would investigate the claims to establish whether any action was necessary.

“If there’s things where people are saying that our players went out and drank excessively, then of course we’ll be looking into that. 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. But from everything that I’ve heard so far, they were very well behaved,” Key told reporters at the MCG on Tuesday.

“I’ve read what’s been written in the last day or so, and if it goes into where they’re drinking lots and it’s a stag do, all that type of stuff, that’s completely unacceptable. I’m not a drinker. I think a drinking culture doesn’t help anyone in any stretch whatsoever.

“I have no issue with the Noosa trip if it was to get away and just throw your phone away, down tools, go on the beach… Everything that I’ve heard so far is that they sat down, had lunch, had dinner, didn’t go out late, had the odd drink. I don’t mind that. If it goes past that, then that’s an issue as far as I’m concerned… There’s lots of people there that might disagree with that, but that’s what we’ll find out,” he added.

What was dubbed as a potentially era-defining tour has instead prompted another phase of reflection for English cricket, after consecutive defeats in Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide. With the Ashes already lost, England’s immediate goal is to minimise the damage, starting with the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

–IANS

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