England have been bizarrely sledged on the beach by two local radio hosts dressed in cricket whites offering “free counselling” to the side after their second Ashes Test defeat at Brisbane.
Ben Stokes and the rest of the England squad have decamped to Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast for a long planned break ahead of the third Test in Adelaide next week.
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The players have been given time off after head coach Brendon McCullum suggested they had “trained too much” before falling 2-0 behind with a heavy loss in the pink-ball Test at the Gabba.
A four-night stay in the town has nonetheless attracted plenty of press, with cameras in attendance as England gathered on the beach for an informal game of football.
Broadcasters Archie Arenson and Henry Bretz, who work for the Queensland radio station 927mixfm, were also present, dressed in full cricketing attire and holding signs poking fun at England.
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“For sale, moral victories,” one read in an apparent dig at Harry Brook’s suggestion ahead of the fifth Test during the 2023 Ashes that an England win and a 2-2 drawn series, which they achieved, would be a “moral” success.
“Bazballers anonymous, free counselling,” the other said, using an adapted version of the catch-all term employed by the media to describe England’s approach since the arrival of McCullum as head coach.
Stokes posed with the pair for a photograph, with the radio station releasing an extended clip of their search for the England team in the small coastal town.
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England played a beach-side version of their traditional football warm-up (Robbie Stephenson/PA Wire)
The tourists’ off-field activities have come under scrutiny from the local media in Australia, with Stokes asked ahead of the Test in Brisbane if he wished to apologise to the people of Queensland after members of the squad were pictured breaching state laws over wearing helmets while riding electric scooters.
Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey has nonetheless defended England’s decision to take a break mid-series.
“It’s a pretty big series – there is a lot of time in between games,” Carey said. “For the Australian cricket team, we get to go home for a few days and be with the families.
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“For touring parties, you’ve got to find time to fill in those little windows, and Noosa’s not too far from Brisbane.
“The Ashes is a very hotly contested contest and you don’t want to be thinking cricket every single day of the tour. If you do have a little break, it’s probably not a bad time to refresh the batteries.
“Our boys played a bit of golf. I’m probably watching Netflix or taking the fishing rod away if I can. It’s not new stuff that the English guys are doing, having a little break.”
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England will assemble in Adelaide ahead of the third Test commencing on 17 December needing to win all three remaining matches to win back the Ashes.
They have not won a Test in Australia in nearly 15 years since the 3-1 series success in 2010/11, and only one side in history has come back from 2-0 down to win a five-Test series.
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