CRICKET: England to probe reports of excessive drinking during Ashes break

England team director Rob Key said the team would investigate reports that players drank excessively during a break between the second and third Ashes Tests earlier this month.

Australia secured an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series after completing an 82-run victory on the fifth day of the third Test in Adelaide on Sunday, retaining the Ashes urn.

After suffering eight-wicket losses in Perth and Brisbane, the England squad took a break in Noosa. Reports from British and Australian media claimed that players had been drinking throughout their stay in the popular holiday destination.

“Headlines can be misleading at times, saying it’s a stag do and things like that. Stories of players drinking for six straight days — that’s unacceptable,” Key told the BBC in an interview published Tuesday.

“We’ll be looking into what the actual facts are, as opposed to things that may have been embellished or exaggerated,” he said. “When you see a picture of five or six guys sitting down for lunch, with a couple of them having drinks, you need to understand the full context.”

“If it’s true that it turned into a stag do and people were out drinking excessively all the time, that’s not acceptable. I don’t agree with a drinking culture. I don’t like a drinking culture,” Key added.

Before the Ashes series began, Key had already warned England players not to “get caught doing stupid things.”

The fourth Test of the series begins Friday in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, Australia coach Andrew McDonald said he expects his team to be fully prepared despite celebrating their series-clinching victory.

“There are no instructions from me around that — they’re all adults,” McDonald told reporters on Tuesday. “They know how to prepare for a Test match, and they’ll be ready to go come Boxing Day morning.”

“I don’t think there’ll be any hangover. Maybe there was one yesterday, maybe today — I’m not sure,” he added.

-Reporting by Aadi Nair in Nashik, India; Editing by Peter Rutherford/Reuters