Ashes Agree to ‘Sensible’ Drinking
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England players have agreed to ‘sensible’ drinking rules for the Ashes tour of Australia, but there will be no curfew in place, says coach Trevor Bayliss. Ben Stokes, the vice-captain of the test team, was recently arrested in September, after an incident outside a Bristol nightclub during England’s one-day international series against the West Indies. He didn’t fly out to Australia on Saturday for the Ashes, which begins on 23rd November.
The coach told the BBC that ‘Not drinking between games is just sensible’.
‘To me, they’re what we should be sticking to anyway as a player or someone around a professional set-up. The players have sat down and had a chat and they’re the ones that come up with it.’
Captain Joe Root denied that there was a drinking culture in the team prior to flying to Australia. Bayliss said that the players have to pick the ‘right time to have a couple of drinks’ and ‘when to stay away from it’.
Alex Hales, a member of the team, was with the Stokes when the incident took place and was put under police caution, but his lawyer said he would be ‘surprised’ should any further action be taken.
The coach admitted that the end of last season had been difficult, but the team were focused on taking the Ashes by storm.
‘It’s a month ago now, and certainly, the guys here in Australia have gone about their business and there hasn’t really been a chat about it all. Everyone’s been concentrating on what we need to do to win this series.’