Former skipper Michael Vaughan blames 'cricket' for England's drinking but reveals Noosa break 'was booked a year ago'

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan, while refusing to blame under-fire batter Ben Duckett for his 'drunk video,' has blamed 'cricket' for the drinking culture in teams. The incident happened in Noosa during England team's break between the second and third Test in Brisbane and Adelaide, respectively. The Three Lions, however, lost both matches on either side of the breaks after losing the first Test in Perth and now trail 0-3 in the five-Test Ashes. Vaughan also questioned England's lack of preparation going into the first Test in Perth where the visitors looked out of place on a juicy pitch during their eight-wicket loss.

Also Read - Ashes winner Panesar suggests ex-Indian coach as McCullum’s replacement

"Duckett should not be reprimanded at all on the evidence we have seen and neither should the other players because it is a wider issue: the game of cricket has created this drinking culture. England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa all have the same culture," Vaughan wrote in his column for The Telegraph.

"The thing about Noosa is that it was booked a year ago. But they did not book the WACA (Perth ground) a year ago. How did they not prepare for a bouncy pitch leading into a first Test, but at the same time had booked their holiday in Noosa?" Vaughan asked in the column.

England look for Christmas miracle in Boxing Day Test

With fourth Test to set to begin on Boxing Day (Dec 26) in Melbourne, England would be hoping to continue the fight they had shown in Adelaide. The visitors, however, are without express pacer Jofra Archer and have dropped underperforming Ollie Pope as well. Australia, on the other hand, are without regular skipper Pat Cummins and veteran spinner Nathan Lyon but Mitchell Starc has been more than capable of taming the visitors with able support from Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett, and Michael Neser.