England cricketers soak up sun at Noosa’s Main Beach ahead of must-win Adelaide Test
There’s no need for a smear campaign - England’s touring Ashes cricket team is showing they don’t care what anyone thinks, as they holiday in Noosa.
England’s 0-2 Ashes cricketers have endured another tough session preparing for next week’s must-win third Ashes Test in Adelaide - baking in the sun at Noosa.
The Poms showed again that while they have been outplayed and out-thought by Australia on the field, there is one area where they are truly world champions – self-belief.
Forged by their Svengali-like coach Brendon “Baz” McCullum and their inspirational captain Ben Stokes, this a team that has laughed at 150 years of cricket history and tactics and declared: we can do it better.
They don’t need warm-up games to adapt to Aussie conditions. They don’t need to listen to English greats who have won on these shores. They don’t even need patience and discipline. They just need a few days at the beach.
While they should be still smarting from an eight-wicket defeat at the Gabba, the Poms were instead snapped making a splash at Noosa’s Main Beach on Wednesday.
If it weren’t for the buzz from fellow holiday-makers and an inquisitive media throng, the England cricket team could have been any other party of pasty Poms soaking up the sun in Queensland’s upscale holiday playground.
As temperatures hovered close to 30C, the Poms showed teamwork previously lacking in the Ashes thus far - with four of them at one stage creating a slips cordon on the beach as they lined up to slap sunscreen on each other’s extremely white backs before making a beeline for the water.
Noosa might not boast the Sunshine State’s best surf, but it would still put the Old Blighty’s beach experience in the shade.
Stokes last week declared fun was a priority for the touring squad - and he was there waddling in the shallows with Brydon Carse and trainer Ben Davies as strike weapon Jofra “Champion” Archer strutted by sporting his trademark huge gold neckpiece.
At one point the team gathered to punt a volleyball around in a scene reminiscent - and yet so not - of the famous beach sequences in the Top Gun movies.
Following their beach fun they headed back to the sanctuary of the gated Sebel Noosa hotel compound, but not before Stokes and Archer had grabbed a Yo-Chi frozen yoghurt and stopped for selfies with fans.
The England team arrived at Noosa on Monday, the day after their second consecutive Ashes Test defeat by Australia.
Their prioritising of rest and recreation over training sparked accusations they were not taking the series seriously.
They are due in Adelaide next week, heading into a Third Test they must win to keep their series hopes alive.
Stokes last week declared that they would emphasise the importance of players being allowed to “free your mind” and “enjoy yourself”.
“Australia is the best country to tour away from cricket,” Stokes told the BBC last week.
“There are so many things to do.
“You can go out and about and see things that only Australia has to offer, great golf courses, coffee shops and easy places to have lunch.
“We are human. We need to enjoy countries when we get the opportunity because we live in England where it is miserable, freezing cold and dark at 4pm.”
Originally published as England cricketers soak up sun at Noosa’s Main Beach ahead of must-win Adelaide Test
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