England cricketer suspended for beer prank

England cricketer Ben Duckett was suspended from playing on the current Ashes tour in Australia after pouring a beer over teammate Jimmy Anderson in a Perth bar.

Duckett was suspended, fined and given a final warning after the incident on Thursday last week, when he doused veteran Anderson in circumstances which were not elaborated upon.

He had been due to play in the England team against a Cricket Australia XI in-between the second and third tests. The match was drawn.

It was the team’s first outing after the lifting of a curfew that was first imposed after a bizarre incident earlier on the tour where England’s Jonny Bairstow was accused of ‘headbutting’ Australia’s Cameron Bancroft in another Perth watering hole.

That incident was laughed off by Cameron and no further action was taken by either side but it was an early knock for England who had tried to make it clear before the tour that ‘sensible’ drinking guidelines had been agreed upon by the team in an attempt to draw a line under some drinking incidents involving various members of the team over the last few years.

Furthermore, at 2-0 down in the series so far, there’s no doubt the Aussies have fresh ammunition when the two test sides take the field again on Thursday for the third and potentially deciding test in the Western Australian city.

Australia will retain the Ashes if they win the match, as they will have a 3-0 lead in a five game series.

Head coach Trevor Bayliss told the BBC he was “fed up” with dealing with off field incidents and if they continued he add, “I might review who is in the team,” although he added that most of the team were “fine”.