England to ‘establish facts’ after footage emerges of Ben Duckett appearing to be intoxicated
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are working to “establish the facts” after footage emerged on social media of Ben Duckett appearing to be intoxicated on a night out during the Ashes tour.
Duckett is seen standing alone in the video, posted on X, and being asked if he needs any assistance to return safely to his hotel. It is unclear at this stage when the footage was filmed, or by whom, but during the conversation one of those present states “we’re losing 2-0”, suggesting it was taken between the second Test in Brisbane and the third in Adelaide.
England enjoyed a four-night break in Noosa in that period between the games, both of which were lost. The men’s team managing director, Rob Key, stood by the trip to the resort on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast when speaking to reporters on Tuesday but indicated the ECB are investigating suggestions that mid-tour break descended into a glorified “stag do”.
“We are aware of content circulating on social media,” an ECB spokesperson told The Athletic. “We have high expectations for behaviour, accepting that players are often under intense levels of scrutiny, with established processes that we follow when conduct falls below expectations. We also support players that need assistance.
“We will not comment further at this stage while we establish the facts.”
Duckett has endured a miserable series in Australia, scoring only 97 runs across six innings to date at an average of 16.16, with a top score of 29. He was dismissed second ball in the second innings at Adelaide as England embarked on a pursuit of what would have constituted a Test record 435 run chase.
They were bowled out for 352 to lose by 82 runs, in the process surrendering the series 3-0 after only 11 days’ cricket.
Ben Duckett departs the crease after being caught at slip for four in the second innings at Adelaide (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Both the England coach Brendon McCullum and the captain Ben Stokes have since indicated they want to remain in their respective roles after this tour. The mid-series break in Noosa had been incorporated into the schedule a year ago as a bonding exercise for the players on what all concerned had anticipated would be an intense series in Australia.
“If it goes into where they’re drinking lots and it’s a stag do, all of that type of stuff, that’s completely unacceptable,” said Key of Noosa. “I’m not a drinker. A drinking culture doesn’t help anyone in any stretch whatsoever.
“Everything that I’ve heard is that they sat down, had lunch, had dinner, didn’t go out late, all of that, had the odd drink — I don’t mind that.
“If it goes past that, then that’s an issue as far as I’m concerned. If there are things where people are saying that our players went out and drank excessively, then we’ll be looking into that.
“From everything that I’ve heard, they actually were pretty well behaved. Very well behaved. I don’t mind players having a glass of wine over dinner. Anything more than that is ridiculous, really.”
The Athletic has contacted Duckett’s representatives for comment.
The 31-year-old has been a mainstay of the England side over the last few years and had returned to Australia seeking to make amends after being dropped and banished from the second-string Lions’ tour of the country in 2017-18 after it emerged he had poured a drink over Jimmy Anderson’s head in a bar. That incident took place on the night before he was due to play in a mid-tour warm-up game in Perth for the full side.
He revealed last year on the Final Word podcast what was widely rumoured at the time — that Anderson had instigated the high jinks that night. “Jimmy actually threw a drink at me, but no one knows about that,” said Duckett. “Then he said: ‘Oh, we’re just messing about, you can just lob one on my head. That’s fine’. So I did, but the security guard from the ECB saw what I did and it filtered back.
“I couldn’t really come out and say that because I was a young lad trying to break into the England team and people didn’t want to hear from me.”
Writing in The Telegraph at the time, Anderson described the incident as “not malicious… a bit of a non-event”.
Duckett, speaking to The Athletic before the current tour, suggested he had no appetite for revisiting that controversy on his 2025-26 return. “Was it handled well? I don’t know,” he said. “I find it hard to talk about because I’m still in my career and you do have to be careful. People still involved were in charge of those conversations.
“But it was a really, really tough time. I remember how I felt back then and compare it to where I am now, and I just know I’ve got to grab this opportunity with both hands. I don’t want to go anywhere. I want to keep getting better. I want to ignore the noise around me. I just want to keep playing for England, keep scoring runs and keep winning games with England.”
The fourth Test in Melbourne begins on Boxing Day.
