Ben Stokes Faces ‘Toughest Time’ as Ashes Scandal Deepens

MELBOURNE : England captain Ben Stokes has admitted he is navigating his “toughest time” as skipper as the fallout from a winless Ashes tour is compounded by allegations of off-field misconduct.

With England already trailing 3-0 heading into the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), the focus has shifted from the pitch to a burgeoning drinking scandal. England Director of Cricket Rob Key is currently investigating reports of excessive alcohol consumption during the team’s mid-series break in Noosa.

“This is probably the toughest time right now as an England captain that I’ll have,” Stokes told BBC Sport. “I’m not going to run away from it. When you’re losing, everything you say, everything you do gets criticised, analysed, and rightly so.”

The crisis intensified on Tuesday when a social media video surfaced allegedly showing opener Ben Duckett intoxicated. Despite the investigation, Duckett has been retained in the XI for the fourth Test. Stokes confirmed he has offered his “complete support” to the opener, whom he described as an “incredibly influential person” in the dressing room.

England are currently on a dismal 18-Test winless run on Australian soil. Another defeat in Melbourne would bring them closer to a humiliating 5-0 clean sweep—a fate that has befallen only three other England teams in history.

Stokes noted the difficulty of justifying a holiday in Noosa while down 2-0. “When you’re winning, it’s a lot easier to do stuff. You don’t really have a leg to stand on when you are 3-0 down in a big series like this.”