Ben Duckett escapes ban after mid-Ashes drunken episode as cricket’s ‘drinking culture’ exposed
Viral footage of England fly-half Ben Duckett showing himself drunk has sent waves of insecurity through the England dressing room. However, a former England captain, Michael Vaughan, has called on the ECB to prioritize broader concepts that actually affect England’s performance on the field rather than focusing on such minor incidents.
England have already lost the Ashes series, and the ECB and the English management have been held responsible for the reckless attitude of the cricketers present. On several occasions, the England team’s Noosa vacation has been blamed on circumstances.
England head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes have repeatedly explained that the holiday to Noosa was always planned and with such a big break between matches players had to turn away from the game and return.
Your daily dose of cricket!
Ben Duckett feels pressure from ECB investigation exercise
England’s rocky Ashes campaign continued to get even more uneven as Ben Duckett was seen very drunk in one of the viral videos from England’s Noosa on holiday. Reports also claimed that many England players had been drinking heavily during the break.
With the Boxing Day Test fast approaching, it was a very bad time for the video to be made public. England chief executive Rob Key has promised to look into the accusations, and Ben Duckett could probably be feeling the heat of the incident right now.
The England opener has also been lacking in form throughout this Australian tour. While Zak Crawley showed great form at times, Duckett failed to produce a single dominant innings.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan came out to support Duckett and the England players with a delicate remark. He turned the outrage toward something he sees as the main reason for concern, which is any player sipping alcohol.
“I’m not going to criticize England for what they did in Noosa. I’m criticizing what they do on the cricket field, the way they play and the way they prepare to play cricket.”
“I’m not going to point the finger at a bunch of kids who had a few beers on a few days off. I did exactly the same thing as them when I played for England, although I at least knew when it was time to go home, and that’s probably what Ben Duckett needs to learn,” Michael Vaughan said in a Telegraph column.
“The game of cricket created this drinking culture” – Ben Duckett
The former England skipper also claimed that targeting a single player misses the point as such relaxation behavior has been normalized over the decades in the game of cricket.
“Duckett should not be reprimanded at all based on the evidence we have seen, and neither should the other players, because this is a wider problem: the game of cricket has created this drinking culture.”
“England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa all have the same culture. You give a group of young people three or four days off to relax, and they go to something like that,” he concluded.
ALSO READ: Ben Stokes issues official statement on Ben Duckett drunk video as ECB disciplinary action looms
