Aussie cricket stars’ hotel demands for long overseas tours revealed

Beyoncé famously demanded $900 titanium straws while Sir Paul McCartney bans fur, leather and meat in his dressing room – and now the Australian Test cricket squad’s strange touring requests have come to light.

Amazon’s documentary series The Test, in its second season, takes viewers behind the scenes of the Australian tour of Pakistan in March 2022.

With Test cricket returning to the Asian nation after it had been banned from 2009-2019 due to a terror attack on the touring Sri Lanka cricket team, security was ultra tight.

That meant the players were effectively locked down in their hotel when they weren’t playing or training.

Realising the situation, Cricket Australia decided to survey the players on ways they could make their stay more comfortable. 

The flood of requests ranged from the unreasonable to the downright ridiculous. 

‘Cricket Australia basically said to us, what can we do to try and make your life in hotels for the next month better,’ said captain Pat Cummins.

David Warner (pictured with his daughters Ivy and Indi at a golf day in Sydney) was keen to be able to practice another sport while he was cooped up in the team hotel

‘The boys just took it to the next level.

‘Within 30 seconds David Warner sends a message, “We need a golf simulator, this is the one we need”.

‘Marnus says we need a coffee machine, Steve Smith says we need oat milk, Cam Green says we need a basketball net.’

Given the circumstances, Cricket Australia actually accommodated most of the requests.

‘We had more toys than a day care centre’, said spinner Nathan Lyon. 

That is not the only way the players can be likened to big kids. Many athletes like to take their video games on the road, and the Aussie cricket team is no exception.

The highly popular Call of Duty video game series is a staple on Australian cricket tours and Mitch Marsh reckons he is team’s No.1 player

In the first season of The Test pace bowler Jhye Richardson took his PlayStation on tour and now competition is fierce between the players when it comes to multi-player combat hits like Call of Duty. 

And one player has comfortably declared himself the champion, while also noting that captain Cummins sits dead last on the leaderboard. 

‘I can comfortably say there’s no international cricketer that’s put more hours on (video game) Call of Duty than me over the last two years’, said all-rounder Mitch Marsh.

Shaun Marsh, Steve Smith and Mitch Marsh of Australia share a laugh in the change rooms after winning The Ashes in 2018

‘We’ve found the one thing Patty’s not good at.’

‘He’s sh*t (at Call of Duty), and we can tell him he’s sh*t.’

‘I still reckon I’m better than Nathan Lyon,’ Cummins replied.