Ex-England stars Michael Vaughan and Monty Panesar defend Ashes drinking session

Police were called to break up a post-Ashes drinking session at 6am that included Joe Root, James Anderson, Nathan Lyon, Travis Head and Alex Carey

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Ashes: Police break up cricket team’s morning drinking session

Michael Vaughan and Monty Panesar have defended England and Australia ‘s Ashes stars after a video emerged of police asking them to break up an early morning drinking session.

The video, obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald, shows Root, James Anderson, Nathan Lyon, Travis Head and Alex Carey getting approached by police at around 6am the morning the day after the final Test in Hobart finished.

The players are all still wearing their whites from the game and the video appears to have been taken by England’s assistant coach Graham Thorpe, who can be heard saying: “I’ll just video this for the lawyers.”

The ECB have released a statement which says the local police were called after “hotel management received a noise complaint by a hotel guest”.

Former England captain Vaughan defended the players, tweeting: “Come on everyone .. I know they have been beaten but many teams have in the past & you always have a drink with the Aussies .. Btw .. the Test finished at 10pm so 6am is 2am in old money !!”

Ex-England spinner Panesar, meanwhile, said the incident should not be “blown out of proportion.

“After every tour, teams get together and talk about the good and bad times,” he told the Daily Mail .

“It’s just part of cricket culture really, you’re always going to reminisce with people about bowling really well, or not getting someone out.

“It’s a very common thing that happens in cricket and it’s a nice thing, it should happen because otherwise you lose that sense of friendship and camaraderie. I don’t think anything should be blown out of proportion.”

Steve Harmison, who made 63 Test appearances for England, admitted the episode is “another black mark on what has been another horrific tour”, but insisted it is “a non-event”.

“I think it’s a non-story,” he told talkSPORT . “I’m not going to defend the players on this but we have caged our sports stars for the last two years with COVID, constantly putting them in bubbles, constantly put them under pressure to perform and restricted their ability to go out and be human beings.

“When you see stories like this, I don’t blame them. At the end of a tour, when you’ve just been battered and you’re cooped up and can’t go places, I don’t blame them.

“But it is another black mark on what has been another horrific tour for the ECB.”