Australia rebuff England's friendly offer of post-match beer
A bitter and decisively defeated Australia did not accept a friendly invitation extended by England for a post-match beer, as has been reported. Apparently the 169-run loss has not gone down well with the Aussies, who were in no mood to be sharing a drink with their vanquishers.
James Anderson said that it had become a ‘ritual’ to share a drink after a difficult Test, as the England team had done with the New Zealand side recently after each match. On approaching Michael Clarke with the offer, however, Alastair Cook was rebuffed by the Australian captain.
“It was Cooky’s idea and he went and asked them after the game,” Anderson said, according to the Guardian. “We were all happy to do it. I don’t know why they didn’t come in. Maybe they wanted to carry on doing things their way. You’ll have to ask them. It’s their prerogative.
“We had a beer with the New Zealand team after both Tests and we found it an enjoyable thing to do after a hard Test. It didn’t matter whether we won or lost, we did it and it’s something we want to carry on doing.”
Ponting’s role in the drinking ritual
In fact, the sharing of drinks between England and Australia used to be a ritual after the final day of play, no matter which side won or lost, but it stopped after Australia lost in 2005, and Ricky Ponting stopped the ritual right there. This was due to the feeling that the players might develop too much friendliness with the opposite side and thus lose their competitiveness.
“The spirit was different from our point of view because we weren’t fussed about trying to start any battles,” Anderson said. “We were really focused on what we were going to do and when you rack up runs generally the opposition are quiet whoever you’re playing against.”
The Cardiff Test, however, was played in good spirit, when you look back to the 2013-14 series in Australia, where there were sparks flying on the ground. Heated words were exchanged between the two sides. Australia won 5-0.
England lead the 2015 Ashes series 1-0, with four games left to play in the latest edition of this historic battle.