England is facing the music and rightfully so. The first Ashes tour of Australia under head coach Brendon McCullum has turned out to be an absolute disaster. All that talk about saving the game and whatnot has gone up in flames for Ben Stokes’ side. If that wasn’t enough pressure, their antics off the field have also come under the spotlight, with the England and Wales Cricket Board launching an investigation into what went down during their four-night trip to Noosa ahead of the third Test in Adelaide.
Videos have emerged on social media of Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell, allegedly from this period. Duckett can be seen visibly inebriated, while Bethell was spotted vaping in a nightclub. All of this has brought together a narrative around whether the players overindulged during their time off, or even whether they took the freedom they were given for granted.
None of this reflects well on the England squad, especially considering they were outplayed across all departments by the Australians, who defended the urn in just 11 days of play. The criticism around their on-field shortcomings has only added to their misery.
WERE ENGLAND PLAYERS IN THE WRONG?
Being on tour, particularly to Australia, is arguably one of the toughest challenges in the cricketing landscape. It isn’t just me saying it — Rohit Sharma agrees, as do many former cricketers.
The press is on you 24/7, waiting for you to slip. Even before the series began, Australian tabloids were already after Joe Root for not scoring a hundred Down Under. And it’s not just the English they go after. Even someone of Virat Kohli’s stature was under the radar, being labelled a clown for his tussle with Sam Konstas during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Considering they are on tour for close to two months, it is perfectly normal for players to have some time to unwind. That should have ended there. Players are allowed downtime, and alcohol is something both English and Australian cricketers partake in.
On a sidenote, there is something strange about the timing of when these clips have emerged.
From the outside, though, it does paint a darker picture about where the priorities lie for England as a team.
SCANDAL IS NOT THE NOOSA TRIP, IT’S PREPARATION
And this is where the focus needs to shift. The outrage around Noosa is loud, but it is also convenient. Videos of players drinking or vaping are easy targets. They are visual, emotive, and perfect for a media cycle looking for something to latch on to. But they are not the reason England lost the Ashes.
Australia did not beat England because of the nightlife. They beat them because they were better prepared, more disciplined, and sharper in execution. England were outfielded, outbowled, and exposed repeatedly by basic errors — dropped catches, questionable tactics, and an inability to adapt once their plans started falling apart. That doesn’t happen because of a night out.
Michael Vaughan’s recent column makes the picture even murkier. According to him, England had their trip to Noosa booked more than a year in advance. Fair enough — booking resorts at the last minute is hardly ideal. But where was that same level of planning when it came to preparation?
He also suggested that England did not have a dedicated fielding coach. That would explain the dropped catches during the pink-ball Test. A spin-bowling coach exists in the setup, but England rarely trusted a specialist spinner. What exactly was the plan there?
Ultimately, this episode says far more about England’s systems than it does about individual behaviour. Teams don’t unravel in Australia because of one night out; they unravel when margins are ignored, and preparation is assumed rather than earned. The Ashes punish shortcuts, and England has learnt that the hard way.
TIME FOR ACCOUNTABILITY
The “Bazball” era was built on freedom and trust, and those principles don’t suddenly become invalid because a tour goes wrong. But freedom without structure quickly turns into complacency, and trust without accountability leaves too many questions unanswered. In Australia, where conditions are unforgiving and pressure relentless, good intentions are never enough.
If England wants this tour to be remembered for something other than humiliation and headlines, the response now matters. Not performative statements or convenient scapegoats, but an honest reassessment of how they prepare, how they prioritise, and how they bridge the gap between philosophy and execution.
The Noosa footage will fade. So will the outrage. What cannot be ignored is the reality that England were beaten long before those clips surfaced — beaten in planning, in adaptability, and in attention to detail. Until those fundamentals are addressed, the debate will keep circling the wrong issues, and England will keep paying the price where it hurts most: on the field.
– Ends
