Former England bowler Stuart Broad has revealed the awkward thing that happened to Brendon McCullum’s side and the team’s management while they travelled home on the plane from Australia following their disastrous Ashes tour.
England had lost the Ashes before Christmas and went 3-0 down following defeats in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.
A victory in the two-day Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) saw England regain some pride, but normal service resumed in the fifth and final Test in Sydney.
Aside from some questionable performances on the pitch, the England team’s behaviour during the tour has also been called into question, with the team accused of treating a mid-series trip to the Queensland town of Noosa as a glorified stag do, which resulted in an England Cricket investigation. Although no further action was taken.
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Shortly after the end of the series, it emerged that white-ball captain and vice-captain of the Test team Harry Brook had been slapped with a £30,000 fine for his conduct after reports emerged about a “late-night altercation” with a bouncer in New Zealand ahead of the Ashes.
A report from The Telegraph revealed that Brook was close to being sacked as white-ball captain following an investigation by the team’s management after he was “struck by a bouncer” who would not allow him entry into a nightclub.
The following day, he played in England’s third ODI in Wellington, which the side lost by two wickets to round off a 3-0 series whitewash defeat.
And ahead of the upcoming white-ball series in Sri Lanka, before February’s T20 World Cup, some England players will no doubt be looking forward to a break from the game.
But even as they travelled home from Australia, they could not escape the news.
Speaking on the ‘For The Love Of Cricket’ podcast, alongside England white-ball wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler, Broad said: “On the flight home on the screen, they have the BBC Sport headlines… Jonathan Agnew had done a column where it was like, ‘Whoever is responsible for organising this tour must lose their job’, and Rob Key is on the plane probably trying to enjoy Saving Private Ryan, and these headlines keep flicking over.
“And Brooky had been caught in this sort of silly story [the New Zealand incident]… poor lad is just trying to get home safely with his missus and have a week at home.”
Broad also joked that Brydon Carse and Brook were at the plane bar, but instead of drinking alcohol, were having sparkling water.
Topics: Cricket
Luke Davies