Reports from The Oval have emerged claiming the English cricket team refused to have a post-series drink with Australia on Tuesday morning.
But skipper Ben Stokes has refuted that accusation, claiming the players “decided to meet up in the night club rather than the dressing room”.
Legendary paceman Stuart Broad took the last two wickets of the fifth Ashes match – and the last two of his professional career – just after 3am Australian eastern time to clinch a 49-run thriller for the home side, and secure a 2-2 series draw.
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It wrapped up what was one of the best and most exciting Ashes series in years, a stark contrast to the 2021-22 stinker when England failed to compete with a rampant Aussie side Down Under.
While the series had fans on the edge of their seat for almost the entire 25 days – with the exception of some rain-effected sessions – it came with a large serving of controversy.
There was Alex Carey’s stumping of Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s, Mitchell Starc’s disallowed catch in the same match, Stuart Broad bizarrely fiddling with the bails mid-over – twice – at The Oval, resulting in immediate wickets both times, while unruly England supporters were involved in a number of scuffles with Aussie players, most notably in the Lord’s Long Room where three members were later banned.
The Carey stumping was a flashpoint of the series, and salty England coach Brendon McCullum later reacted to it by saying, ”I can’t imagine we’ll be having a beer with them any time soon”.
That threat appears to have come to fruition, after Australian players and staff were locked out by England at The Oval after the series finished.
CricBuzz reporter Bharat Sundaresan revealed the disappointing snub via his Twitter.
“Didn’t look like the Australian and English teams had their customary post-series drinks tonight at The Oval. Did notice the Aussies hanging around for quite a while waiting and Steve Smith even peering into the English rooms a couple of times before giving up,” Sundaresan wrote.
“Now hearing that the Aussie players did ask the England team about getting together half a dozen times but didn’t get a response and that allegedly the home team stayed behind locked doors.”
Sundaresan followed up with a clarification from England’s camp, which claimed it planned on meeting the Australians after wrapping up private presentations for the series.
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Highlights: Fifth Ashes Test, day five
Nonetheless, the revelations sparked more outrage in Australia, with prominent radio personality Gerard Whateley saying, “That’s really disappointing. I love their cricket, England. They are a very difficult team to like if they’re conducting themselves like that”.
Fellow prominent sports caller Andy Maher said the snub was further proof of England being “a nation of whining blowhards”.
It was later reported the Aussies left The Oval about 10.45pm local time, before England emerged from their rooms attempting to find their opponents, who were gone.
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