Ashes 2023: England captain Ben Stokes clears the air on skipping the customary post-series drink

The 2023 Ashes will forever be remembered as one of the most closely-fought encounters between the old rivals England and Australia and arguably the most memorable series since the iconic 2005 edition. The series ended on a triumphant as well as emotional note for the home team as they pulled off a series-leveling victory in the evening session on the final day at The Oval, giving senior pacer Stuart Broad a fitting farewell from the sport. It was a bittersweet conclusion for the Aussies, as they managed to retain the urn for a fourth-time running despite throwing away a golden opportunity to win a Test series in England for the first time since 2001. However, not everything appeared to be well between the two sides at the end of the fiercely-contested series, and one might wonder if the multiple controversies and flare-ups between these two sides took a toll in the relations between Ben Stokes and Pat Cummins and their respective teams. The two sides, after all, did not share the post-match beverage in the dressing room after the series that has become something of a norm for these two teams as well as for sides such as South Africa and New Zealand. According to a report on foxsports.au, the Australian team made multiple approaches to the English dressing room for the post-Ashes drink but the door remained firmly locked each time. The Aussies claim they eventually gave up after several attempts, and decided to leave the south London venue.

Now hearing that the Aussie players did ask the England team about getting together half a dozen times but didn’t get a response and that allegedly the home team stayed behind locked doors #Ashes https://t.co/BopRk4iCaZ

— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) July 31, 2023

The English camp though, denies giving the Australians the cold shoulder. Skipper Stokes insisted that the hosts took longer than expected to wrap things up at the end of the series because of farewell speeches from Broad and off-spinner Moeen Ali — who confirmed going back into Test retirement on Monday — and that the Australians were long gone by the time they were done. “To clarify… Our wrap took longer than expected because of multiple last time event’s. We decided to meet up in the night club rather than the dressing room,” Stokes tweeted in the wee hours of Tuesday.

To clarify…
Our wrap took longer than expected because of multiple last time event’s.
We decided to meet up in the night club rather than the dressing room
🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌 https://t.co/jJ4Qw3uCnm

— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) August 1, 2023

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The two sides had multiple run-ins during the series and tensions reached its peak after Jonny Bairstow’s controversial stumping by Alex Carey during the second Test at Lord’s. Carey decided to have a shy at the stumps after Bairstow wandered off from the popping crease before the ball could be considered dead. Also Read | British, Australian Prime Ministers wade into Bairstow stumping row The dismissal proved to be a turning point during England’s chase of the 371-run target and the hosts would eventually fall short and concede a 0-2 lead to the Aussies despite Stokes’ heroic 155. It also led to skipper Cummins and the rest of the Australian getting massively booed by the Lord’s crowd along with a host of strong reactions from England and their supporters. England Test coach Brendon McCullum was among those who slammed the Australians for their tactics. “I can’t imagine we’ll be having a beer with them any time soon,” the former New Zealand captain, who goes by the nickname ‘Baz’, said after the incident.