The England Cricket Board (ECB) is reportedly very unhappy with the new video that has surfaced of the England captain Joe Root and batting coach Graham Thorpe partying with some of the Australian players after England’s 4-0 debacle in the Ashes. The veteran fast bowler James Anderson was also present as the players shared a drink. However, the controversy erupted when the players didn’t leave the restaurant till early morning and the cops had to be called to get the players and the support staff out of there.
While the ECB bosses haven’t taken a great liking to the fact that the players were there way past the permissible time, they are particularly angry with Graham Thorpe who was smoking a cigar despite it being prohibited at the concerned place. What’s interesting is that the video that surfaced on social media and went viral was shot by Thorpe himself as he wanted to make sure he had footage of the incident in case the story went to court. He can be even heard saying in the video “I am shooting this for the lawyers”.
The Australian players who were there having a drink as well were Nathan Lyon and Travis Head and Lyon had even presented a jersey to Root. This is actually a normal routine between the host and the visiting sides of the Ashes to share a drink at the end of the series despite the result of the series, but it became a subject of controversy because the players continued till a long time and the cops were actually called because they were making a lot of noise.
ECB has already apologised for the viral video which was shot by Graham Thorpe himself
The ECB, just as the video surfaced on social media, straightaway apologised for the incident and stated that they would be launching an investigation and it is understood that the investigation has revealed Graham Thorpe didn’t follow the rules of the restaurant by smoking a cigar there, something which ECB has noted and is believed to be going to take an action.
Graham Thorpe is rated very highly as a batting coach in the England cricket circles and has helped many young players coming through the ranks. If he gets sacked because of an incident like this, it is going to be a blow for the England set-up, especially when they are planning to go through a rebuild of the test team.
