Team official to investigate drinking habits of England cricketers during Ashes tour

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — England's managing director of men's cricket Rob Key says he will investigate the drinking habits of the England team following reports that their mid-Ashes beach resort break may have involved over-indulging of alcohol.

England lost each of the first three tests to allow Australia to retain the Ashes in just 11 days of on-field action.

The England squad visited the resort town of Noosa on the Sunshine Coach north of Brisbane between the second and third tests, a long-planned part of the itinerary designed to help players relax and unwind on the long tour.

Key, who did not join the players in Noosa, said he had no problem with the break, but would not be happy if he found evidence of over-indulging.

“If there’s things where people are saying that our players went out and drank excessively, then of course we’ll be looking into that,” he said Tuesday in Melbourne, where the fourth test begins Friday.

“Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol for an international cricket team is not something that I’d expect to see at any stage and it would be a fault not to look into what happened there. From everything that I’ve heard so far, they actually were pretty well behaved. Very well behaved.”

He added: “We’ve got enough ways of finding out exactly what happened and everything that I’ve heard so far that they sat down, had lunch, had dinner, didn’t go out late, all of that, had the odd drink. I don’t mind that. If it goes past that, then that’s an issue as far as I’m concerned."

Key also said he had previously looked into reports that players had been spotted drinking the night before a match in New Zealand shortly before the Ashes.

A short clip of white-ball captain Harry Brook and Jacob Bethell was shared by a member of the public on social media, said to have been taken while they were out in Wellington before the third one-day international on Nov. 1.

“I didn’t feel like that was worthy of formal warnings, but it was probably worthy of informal ones,” he said.

“I think that was a bit of a wake-up call actually for what they’re going into. I don’t mind players having a glass of wine over dinner. Anything more than that, I think is ridiculous, really.”

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Australian players celebrate the dismissal of England's Jamie Smith during play on the final day of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)

MINNA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerians on Monday got their first look at 130 children and teachers released after being seized in one of the largest mass abductions in the country's history.

Some of the children appeared to be malnourished or in shock as they arrived at a government ceremony. Police said they were freed Sunday, a month after gunmen stormed their Catholic school in Niger state’s Papiri community in a predawn attack.

Authorities said plans were underway to reunite the children with their families before Christmas.

Authorities earlier said 303 schoolchildren and 12 teachers were seized and 50 of them escaped in the hours that followed. But on Monday, Niger state Gov. Mohammed Bago indicated that 230 had been taken and all had now been released.

School kidnappings have come to define insecurity in Africa’s most populous country.

Officials did not say whether a ransom — common in such abductions — had been paid. No group has claimed responsibility, but residents blamed armed gangs that target schools and travelers in kidnappings for ransom across Nigeria’s conflict-battered north.

Most of those seized in the attack were aged between 10 and 17, the school said. One of the children released earlier told The Associated Press that gunmen threatened to shoot them during the attack.

Maj. Gen. Adamu Garba Laka, national coordinator at Nigeria’s Center for Counter Terrorism, told Monday's event that Nigeria will work with community leaders to boost safety in high-risk areas.

Freed students of St. Mary's Catholic School in the Papiri community upon their arrival at the government house, in Minna, Nigeria, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

A freed teacher of St. the Mary's Catholic School in the Papiri community upon arrival at the government house, in Minna, Nigeria, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Freed students of St. Mary's Catholic School in the Papiri community pose for photographs upon their arrival at the government house, in Minna, Nigeria, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Freed students of St. Mary's Catholic School in the Papiri community upon their arrival at the government house, in Minna, Nigeria, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Freed students from St. Mary's Catholic School in the Papiri community arrive at the government house, in Minna, Nigeria, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)