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📻 IMPORTANT AUCKLAND UPDATE 📻
"Disrespected Australia": England slammed for off-field Ashes antics
Sam Kosack • January 12th, 2026 6:00 pm
SEN’s Adam White has slammed the England cricket team after their Ashes series was marred by underpreparation and off-field controversy.
England lost the Ashes 4-1, with a night out in Noosa the focus of the series’ post-mortem, as England players look set for a curfew amid reports of excessive drinking sessions.
Specific players are also coming under the microscope as the English Cricket Board begin an investigation into vision of Ben Duckett on the team’s night-out in Noosa, and vice-captain Harry Brook who has been fined $60,000 following an altercation with a bouncer in Wellington before the team flew to Australia.
Adam White accused the English team of “disrespecting the game” with their off-field actions through the series.
“I must confess I was one that initially thought that you don't overreact to what happened in the Ashes based on the fact that it's usually what England does,” White said on SEN Mornings.
“When you've got an Ashes series, another one coming up in 18 months' time in the UK, you don't want to be making too many changes just out of response to one bad series.
“But I think it's gotten to the point now… I don't think it can now be disputed that… they encouraged an unprofessional environment.
“(The leaders of English cricket) have encouraged an environment where we've seen multiple issues with players off the field, (and) just not preparing appropriately for professional cricket.
“We can talk about the lack of preparation that they had in the build-up to the Ashes.
“I think they disrespected Australia. I think they disrespected the game.
“They thought they could just turn up and almost have like a club level approach to playing cricket and it clearly didn't work, and it has clearly cost them any chance of winning the Ashes.”
White believes that there could be consequences and change from a leadership perspective for England as the ECB look to remedy the team culture.
“If you do think that that's true, then there has to be change because Robert Key, he's the one that put Brendon McCullum in charge and he's the one that knew what was going on and he's allowed them to have this relaxed, carnival atmosphere like environment in a professional setup.
“When it fails spectacularly, and you look at the two teams and you think, ‘Well, if this was different, if that was different’… (then) we might have had a different result.
“I don't think we would've, but we might have. I think it certainly would've put the two teams a lot closer together.
“I'm with Michael Vaughan, there kind of has to be consequences, doesn't there?
“I think there's a number of coaches that would think that they could do (better) based on the talent that England's got and with a much more professional approach, particularly from a bowling point of view.
“They were underdone, and that proved to be a huge impact on the series.
“Then… when you think of Harry Brook going out the night before an actual one day international, can you imagine if that happened in Australia?
“I don't think it would go down overly well.”
