Perth: Australia coach Darren Lehmann says England’s latest alcohol-fuelled indiscretion is no laughing matter and his team are not relishing the tourists’ misfortunes.

England were rocked this weekend by a third alcohol-related incident in three months after England Lions batsman Ben Duckett was suspended from a two-day tour match for pouring a drink on the head of senior England player James Anderson following a heated argument.

The Duckett incident follows Ben Stokes’ involvement in a brawl outside a Bristol nightclub in September and Jonny Bairstow’s headbutt greeting for Australia Test opener Cameron Bancroft in Perth in late October.

England coach Trevor Bayliss described Duckett’s incident as “trivial” but “not acceptable”, and Lehmann said he did not see the funny side of his rivals self-destructing.

“I’ve been through all that, so no, I don’t have a chuckle at that,” Lehmann told reporters on Sunday.

“You have those situations at various stages throughout your career. It’s not funny,” he added.

Duckett axed

Ben Duckett has been fined and will play no further part in the remaining matches for the England Lions in Australia following the batsman’s bar prank in Perth. The incident occurred late on Thursday when the Ashes tourists returned to the bar in which Jonny Bairstow delivered his ‘head-butt’ greeting to Australia opener Cameron Bancroft at the start of their tour.

Agencies