The Australian camp have been left with a sour taste in their mouth following the Ashes, after being snubbed by England for the traditional post-series drinks in a move they’ve labelled ‘pathetic’.
Australian players were spotted looking into the hosts’ dressing rooms after play to see if they could share a beer, before eventually giving up and leaving The Oval at around 10.45pm.
England’s team were then spotted coming out of the ground shortly after the Aussies had left.
Post-series drinks have long been a tradition of international cricket, with players usually gathering once meetings and family time is finished.
However, they did not go ahead on Monday night at The Oval after Australia’s 49-run loss to England.
The Aussie side believes they were snubbed for post-series drinks on Monday night
A source close to the Australian cricket team called the act ‘pathetic’ and said it called into question ‘the spirit of cricket’
A source close to the Aussie team told foxsports.com.au that England definitely snubbed the tourists.
‘We don’t really care, we’ve got the urn, but after a hard-fought series it is pretty pathetic,’ said the source.
‘Talk about the spirit of cricket.’
Australian players reportedly asked numerous times to enter the English sheds, but the door was locked and the tourists were not let in.
The toursts are known to have been disappointed by the lack of social relations during the series, with the two teams drinking together late into the night after the fifth Test at the same venue in 2019.
England sources have since revealed that they expected to drink with Australia following their meetings and extended retirement presentations, but were surprised to learn the tourists had left.
The hosts are putting the drama down to a misunderstanding, but the Australian camp insist they were deliberately fobbed off.
Cricket reporter Bharat Sundaresan posted to Twitter on Tuesday morning: ‘Now hearing that the Aussie players did ask the England team about getting together half a dozen times but didn’t get a response and that allegedly the home team stayed behind locked doors.’
English skipper Ben Stokes tweeted on Tuesday afternoon about the apparent snub.
‘To clarify, our wrap took longer than expected because of multiple last time events,’ Stokes wrote.
‘We decided to meet up in the nightclub rather than the dressing room,’ he added.
It comes after England coach Brendon McCullum had threatened to boycott the drinks earlier in the series, following the controversial Jonny Bairstow stumping at Lord’s.
England coach Brendon McCullum doubted his side would share drinks with the Aussies after the controversial climax to the second Test at Lord’s
The Aussies were reportedly disappointed by the snubbing from the English side
The hosts are putting the whole thing down to a misunderstanding and said they were surprised to learn the Aussie’s had left following their post-match meetings
In interviews earlier this month, McCullum and captain Ben Stokes also accused Australia of breaching the spirit of cricket.
Australian players were continually heckled by English crowds following the incident, with the Lord’s long room incident only one example of the side regularly being labelled cheats.
Tensions had appeared to ease between the two teams in recent Tests, albeit with Bairstow continually making exaggerated efforts to stay in his crease while batting.
Stokes had also indicated early on Monday evening that relations with Australian players had been friendly, with limited sledging in the series.
‘That’s the progression of franchise cricket to be honest,’ Stokes said.
‘There are a lot of players who have relationships with the opposition now, not just England and Australia, but with other teams around the world.
‘Especially with the IPL, you can spend nine weeks with someone who you are playing against.
‘I spent two or three years at Rajasthan with Steve Smith. You get to know each other and stuff like that.’
Monday night’s lack of socialising comes after a similar incident following the 2017 Border-Gavaskar, where Virat Kohli’s Indian team refused to drink with Australia following a fiery series.
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