Former Australia cricketer defends England team amid drinking row

KARACHI: Former Australia cricketer and head coach Darren Lehmann came out in England men's cricket team's support amid the drinking row, stressing that the visiting players were "really well behaved" during their time in Noosa.

England, who succumbed to Ashes defeat in just 11 days by losing each of the first three fixtures of the blockbuster series, have been under scrutiny over their six-day stay in Noosa, as their players were alleged to have got heavily drunk during the trip.

The controversy erupted when a video went viral on social media, featuring opening Ben Duckett, visibly drunk and allegedly unable to find his way back to the team hotel.

The video drew widespread criticism from the cricket fraternity and eventually caught the England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) attention, which announced it would launch an investigation into the claims.

"We are aware of content circulating on social media," the ECB said in a statement earlier this week.

"We have high expectations for behaviour, accepting that players are often under intense levels of scrutiny, with established processes that we follow when conduct falls below expectations. We also support players that need assistance.

"We will not comment further at this stage while we establish the facts."

Meanwhile, as per the latest development, the English players received an unlikely support during the controversy as Lehmann, who represented Australia in 27 Tests and 117 ODIs, claimed to be in Noosa at the time and affirmed that they were well behaved and had a good time with the locals.

He also dismissed the claims of them being heavily drunk, stressing that the reports are "just wrong".

"I was in Noosa and this bugs me. I am all for getting stuck into England. They haven't played well enough, their preparation before the first game of the series (was not good) I get all that. But I was actually there. They were actually really well behaved. They mixed with the locals, had a good time," Lehmann told an Australian news website.

"The reports of them stagging it up are just wrong. They were polite and a delight to the people of Noosa, played golf, played soccer with the locals - all that sort of stuff. They were well liked there," he added.