England lose Archer, drop Pope. Duckett holds place, but video under investigation

England will thrust Ben Duckett into the Boxing Day spotlight despite an ongoing probe into his appearance in a video which has intensified scrutiny around the visitors’ off-field behaviour this tour.

As captain Ben Stokes on Wednesday refused to condemn his players for their antics during a controversial mid-series holiday in Noosa, the struggling tourists were dealt a further blow with speed demon Jofra Archer ruled out of the rest of the series with a left side strain.

A wretched campaign descended further into the mire after a video emerged on social media of a disoriented and confused Duckett not knowing where he was staying or the directions home.

The video, which references a 2-0 scoreline, appears to have been taken between the Brisbane and Adelaide Tests, which was when the trip to Noosa happened. The England and Wales Cricket Board has said it will “establish the facts” before commenting further on the incident. Before the video had circulated, team director Rob Key vowed to investigate claims players had consumed alcohol excessively during the break.

Balancing his role as the dressing room leader and public figurehead for the team, Stokes said he was concerned about the mental welfare of his players at a time when they had been slammed for their performances on and off the field, and also focused on getting them prepared to win the final two Tests.

Stokes said he was aware what impact being caught in a media and social media storm can have on people, an apparent reference to his part in a 2017 brawl outside a Bristol nightclub for which he was found not guilty of affray.

“My main concern right now is my players,” Stokes said on Wednesday. “How I handle this moment right now is the most important thing to me.

“The welfare of everyone in there, and probably some certain individuals as well, is the most important thing to me right now as England captain.

“This kind of stuff is, I don’t know if close to me is the right wording, something I have firsthand experience of how it can affect people.

“My role as England captain is to protect my players as much as I possibly can.

“We have a goal still to try and achieve out here on this trip that’s not gone anywhere near to plan whatsoever. We’ve still got two games of cricket to play. We’ve still got a lot of efforts and energy to put on the remainder of this tour, and looking after my players is one of the main things I need to get out of this.”

The out-of-form Duckett has been deemed sound enough of mind and body to potentially open the batting in front of a crowd of about 90,000 on one of the biggest days of Australia’s sporting calendar.

Ollie Pope has been axed, replaced by Jacob Bethell, while Gus Atkinson takes Archer’s place in the attack.

Archer has been close to England’s best player this series, taking nine wickets at 27. His absence means there will be no return bout with Steve Smith after the pair’s clash in Brisbane.

Stokes said criticism of the team’s preparation and performance was fair, in a change of tone to before the series when he labelled former players who criticised the squad’s lead-up as “has-beens”.

“When you’re 3-0 down and you’ve lost the series, everything you say and do gets scrutinised and rightly so,” Stokes said. “You don’t really have a leg to stand on when you’ve lost three games in a huge series like this.

“When you’re winning, everything’s great, when you’re losing it’s not. When you are 3-0 down you don’t really have a leg to stand on but we’ve got two games of cricket left to play. That’s what we have to focus on.

“We haven’t won a game in Australia for a long, long time. There’s still a lot to play for.”

The 78-second video of Duckett was shared on social media just hours after Key’s pledge to investigate claims players drank excessively in Noosa.

The footage includes a reference from an England supporter, who calls himself “Sam”, that the visitors are down 2-0. A man, identified by others in the clip as Duckett, appears disoriented, confused and slurring his words, unable to find his way home.

The video starts with Sam offering to order the disoriented man a “f---ing Uber on your phone”.

A woman then asks the man if he wants her to ask security to speak to his friends, before checking if he knows where he is staying and if he knows the directions home. The man replies no.

He then engages in friendly banter with Sam, calling him a “prick” after Sam offered to order “an Uber to the nets” and that “it’s probably for the best” as “we’re losing two-nil”.

After being identified as Duckett by Sam, the man tells him “I don’t think people know me”.

“I know you, brother,” Sam says.

The ECB released a statement late on Tuesday night.

“We are aware of content circulating on social media,” an ECB spokesperson said.

“We have high expectations for behaviour, accepting that players are often under intense levels of scrutiny, with established processes that we follow when conduct falls below expectations. We also support players that need assistance.

“We will not comment further at this stage while we establish the facts.”

Australia’s stand-in captain Steve Smith empathised with England’s situation.

“Ultimately, everyone who’s playing here is an adult, and sometimes you need that, you need to be able to let your hair down and just get away and try to come back focused,” Smith told this masthead. “That was kind of the angle they wanted.

“It was a pretty big break in between Tests, they obviously had some time away and were able to prepare for the game and get ready. It was obviously up to them, I’m certainly not fussed by it.”

Smith described the MCG pitch as “pace friendly”, in a sign the Australians are strongly considering playing an all-pace attack. This would increase the likelihood of all-rounder Beau Webster, who can bowl off-spin and seamers, replacing Cameron Green.

Green impressed with the ball in the nets, twice finding Smith’s outside edge, while paceman Jhye Richardson was also lively.

ENGLAND TEAM: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith, Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue.

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