England Cricket Captain Ben Stokes has denied allegations that his team snubbed the traditional post-Ashes drinks with Australia after the series concluded at The Oval. In a tweet posted early on Tuesday morning, Stokes clarified that the delay in their wrap-up was due to multiple last-time events and they decided to meet up in a nightclub instead of the dressing room.
Cricket writer Bharat Sundaresan had initially raised the issue, noting that it didn’t appear as though the Australian and English teams had their customary post-series drinks. Sundaresan also mentioned that the Australians waited around for a while, with Steve Smith even peering into the English dressing room on a couple of occasions before giving up.
While the Australians were reportedly unamused, a source close to the touring team stated, We don’t really care, we’ve got the urn, but after a hard-fought series it is pretty pathetic. Talk about the spirit of cricket.
However, an England spokesman described it as a misunderstanding and highlighted that Australia’s players had left the ground when they were invited in. Despite a declined comment from an Australian team spokesman, sources close to the team revealed that they repeatedly knocked on the England dressing room door and waited for over an hour.
Post-series drinks have long been a tradition in international cricket, with players gathering once meetings and family time have concluded. It is worth noting that England coach Brendon McCullum previously threatened to boycott the drinks earlier in the series after the controversial Jonny Bairstow stumping incident at Lord’s.
Relations between the two teams seemed to have improved since then, with limited sledging throughout the series. However, the Australian media focused more on a controversial ball change on the fourth day of the final Test, which seemed to make England’s bowling more threatening.
Critics in Australia were highly critical of the ball change, with the Daily Telegraph describing it as disgraceful and Peter Lalor of The Australian questioning if the umpires’ blunder had cost Australia the series victory. Lalor argued that the change appeared to alter the course of the game and proved to be costly for the visitors.
Despite the controversy, England emerged victorious in the fifth and final Test, winning by 49 runs on the last evening of the series. Stuart Broad, who was retiring from Test cricket, took the last two wickets to secure the win.
In conclusion, while the post-series drinks tradition may have been overlooked this time around, England Cricket Captain Ben Stokes denied any intentional snub and attributed the delay to various last-time events. The controversy surrounding the ball change during the final Test has sparked debate in Australia, with some suggesting it cost them the series.
