Ashes 2017: Ben Duckett suspended for 'pouring drink over head of James Anderson' during night out
Batsman was dropped from England's warm-up match on Saturday against a Cricket Australia XI and suspended pending an internal investigation
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Your support makes all the difference.England have suspended batsman Ben Duckett pending an internal investigation after he was involved in an incident at a Perth bar on Thursday, in which he is believed to have poured a beer over the head of James Anderson.
The 23-year-old was due to feature in the England XI side that took on a Cricket Australia XI on Saturday in a two-day warm-up match ahead of next week’s third Test, but his name was left out of the side that was named for the encounter and the ECB soon confirmed that an internal investigation led to his omission.
Duckett, who has featured for the England Lions in Australia this winter, was on a night out in Perth on Thursday night with his teammates as well as some of the England Test players, following the relaxation of a team curfew by ECB director Andrew Strauss the same day.
England head coach Trevor Bayliss has since confirmed that Duckett poured a drink over the head of a teammate, who was a senior player within the England side, and while he added that it was “fairly trivial”, the incident was still “not acceptable”.
“It was after midnight, some of our first team were there which I allowed that to happen. We said no curfews that night, let them off and they weren’t breaking any rules from that point of view.
“To be quite honest I think it was fairly trivial but in the current climate it’s just not acceptable,” Bayliss told reporters on Saturday. “Everyone’s been warned that even small things can be blown out of all proportion and the ECB have also been quite strict to the boys with their message, so it’s quite simply unacceptable.
“I’m disappointed. It doesn’t matter how trivial it is, in this environment and what we’ve had to go through already with some of these small problems, it’s just not right, not acceptable.”
There was no police involvement in the matter and it is an investigation that is likely to be concluded within the next 24 hours, but while it is on the minor side of things, it is the latest in a long line of embarrassing incidents surrounding the national cricket team.
“First of all we’ve got to find out exactly what happened so that investigation will go ahead in the next 24 hours and we’ll find out and Andy [Flower, the Lions coach] will be looking after his player, and if anything needs to be said or done with the first team we’ll handle that,” Bayliss added.
“I’m not sure exactly what more I can say, so I’m sure there will be some stern words from above.
“I need to coach the team and you end up spending most of the time up in front of the cameras trying to explain this and behaviour that the boys have already been warned about.”
Asked if the incident involved Duckett pouring a beer over the head of an England player, Bayliss answered: “Yeah I think that was the issue, but again it was nothing to do with any other people outside of either squad, just boys being boys I suppose, but totally unacceptable.”
The head coach refused to confirm who the senior member of the squad was, but The Independent understands that veteran bowler Anderson – the longest-serving member of the England squad – was the unfortunate recipient.
The curfew was imposed after wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow was involved in an incident outside a Perth bar six weeks ago with Australian opener Cameron Bancroft, although suggestions that the Yorkshireman ‘headbutted’ the Western Australian batsman have since proven to be false after it was revealed Bairstow had bizarrely greeted Bancroft by pressing their foreheads against each other.
England remain without all-rounder Ben Stokes following his late-night incident in Bristol last September, for which the Durham star was arrested and released without charge pending further investigation. Somerset and Avon Police have since concluded their investigation and passed on their recommendations to the Crown Prosecution Service, with Stokes flying out to New Zealand last week to join county side Canterbury in the hope of an Ashes call-up.
The 26-year-old was provisionally names in England’s One-Day International side that will face Australia in the new year, but both he and Alex Hales could yet face disciplinary action from the ECB as the governing body elected not to take any action beyond suspending Stokes until the police investigation is closed.
The England XI made 314-9 declared on the first day of the warm-up against the Cricket Australia XI, with opener Keaton Jennings top scoring with 80 runs off 116 balls, while Stokes’ replacement Tom Curran also chipped in with 77 not-out. Cricket Australia XI however, were 62-1 with Tom Curran taking the only wicket for the tourists.
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