New reports suggest that it was Graham Thorpe’s indoor cigar smoking that led to police intervention at post-Ashes party.
The Three Lions’ unimpressive Ashes tour down under ended with an even more bizarre incident on Monday morning where their Ashes after-party was crashed by police. The England and Wales Cricket Board has launched an investigation into the incident, and their assistant coach seems to be at risk of losing his job for his involvement.
Following the conclusion of the fifth Test at Hobart, England and Australia players had an all-night drinking session at Crowne Plaza hotel. The party was broken up shortly after 6 am, with police confronting the players.
Initial reports suggested that fellow guests’ complaints had led to police intervention. However, now it appears Thorpe’s cigar smoking was the reason as indoor smoking is banned in Tasmania.
The Sydney Morning Herald published a video of the incident in which England skipper Joe Root and James Anderson were seen alongside Australian players – Travis Head, Nathan Lyon and Alex Carey.
In the video, a female police officer can be heard confronting the group saying,
“Too loud. You have obviously been asked to pack up, so we’ve been asked to come. Time for bed, thank you. They just want to pack up.”
The video was apparently filmed by Thorpe himself, in which he can be heard saying,
“We’ve got Nathan Lyon, Root, there’s Carey and Anderson. I’ll just video this for the lawyers. See you in the morning, everyone.”
An ECB spokesperson said it will investigate the incident thoroughly with the main focus on how the footage made it to the public domain.
The incident sheds further humiliation on England, who were hammered in the Ashes by 4-0. Earlier, there were reports that a drinking culture within the camp was a major reason for their abysmal performance in the series.
England players are understood to be unhappy that a normal social gathering after a gruelling tour was allowed to escalate publicly. And as a direct repercussion, Thorpe’s place in the English set-up has come under a serious threat.
Ashley Giles, the ECB director for men’s cricket, is expected to provide a report on the disappointing tour and suggestions for the future direction of the Test team.
Root has already expressed his desire to continue as the captain, despite suffering his second Ashes defeat down under in four years. Joe Root and a much bigger attraction, Ben Stokes have decided to not register for the upcoming Indian Premier League mega auction to focus on the Test team.
