We can't worry about what's going on with England, says Darren Lehmann

Darren Lehmann, Australia’s coach, refused to stick the boot into a troubled English side after yet another alcohol-fuelled scandal involving the tourists. Ben Duckett, England’s fringe batsman, was stood down from their two-day tour match against the Cricket Australia XI after it was revealed he poured a drink over the head of vice-captain James Anderson at a bar in Perth on Thursday night.

However, Lehmann asserted that England’s off-field woes were not something to laugh about. “No. I’ve been through all that, so no, I don’t have a chuckle at that,” Lehmann told reporters in Perth on Sunday (December 10). “You have those situations at various stages throughout your career. It’s not funny. It’s a case of actually making sure you’re trying the best you can to get your side prepared. For me, I don’t have a chuckle at any of that,” he added.

The players had a midnight curfew imposed on them after it emerged that wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow headbutted Australian opener Cameron Bancroft in a Perth bar earlier in the tour. Duckett’s incident occurred on the first evening after Andrew Strauss agreed to relax the team’s curfew. Earlier, England had arrived in Australia amidst a lot of criticism after star all-rounder Ben Stokes was involved in a brawl outside a Bristol nightclub in September, which is awaiting a verdict from UK prosecutors.

Faith in the Australians

Australia used the Bairstow saga as a verbal weapon during the first Test fuelling and in all likelihood, they could use something similar in the upcoming third Test over the latest incident. Lehmann said he had faith in his players behaving themselves off-field. “I trust them, obviously,” he said. “They’ve just had a couple of days off, so they’re all in today, and I’m sure they’ll do well.”

This has been a nightmarish tour for England since the start as this is the third incident involving one of their players in an alcohol-related incident. Their off-field troubles have reflected on the field too as their side is lagging 0-2 in the 5-match series.