Sky Sports News understands Duckett poured a drink over bowler James Anderson
Sunday 10 December 2017 14:39, UK
Ben Duckett has been provisionally suspended and is facing a disciplinary hearing over an incident in a Perth bar, the England and Wales Cricket Board has announced.
England head coach Trevor Bayliss confirmed after play on day one of England's two-day tour match against a Cricket Australia XI that Duckett had been punished for pouring a drink over a senior player's head, which Sky Sports News understands was bowler James Anderson.
The Northants batsman was scheduled to open the batting in Perth, which began on Saturday but he was a late omission from the team.
"It was nothing to do with any people outside the squad. Boys being boys, I suppose, but totally unacceptable," Bayliss said.
"There will be an investigation into that. Andy Flower, the Lions coach, will be dealing with his player.
"It was after midnight and some of our first team were there, which I allowed to happen.
"We said no curfews that night, we let them off, so they were not breaking any rules from that point of view."
Asked how serious he thought the incident was, Bayliss added: "I think it is fairly trivial but in the current climate it is just not acceptable.
"Everyone has been warned that even small things can be blown out of proportion. Most of the guys are fine. Somewhere along the line, some guys have got to pull their head in."
Regarding what if any action would be taken, Bayliss said: "First of all, we have got to find out exactly what happened.
"That investigation will go ahead in the next 24 hours.
"Andy will look after his player and, if anything needs to be said or done with the first team, we'll handle that.
"I'm not sure what more I can say to the players. I'm sure there will be some stern words from above."
Bayliss has regularly been forced to discuss off-field matters on the tour so far and agreed that he was finding it tiresome.
"I'm here to coach the team and I end up spending most of the time trying to explain behaviour that the boys have been warned about," he said.
Duckett is a member of the Lions squad, which met up with the full Test players who are preparing for the third Test at the WACA, which starts on December 14.
It is understood the incident occurred between Thursday night and Friday morning, the first evening after England and Wales Cricket Board director Andrew Strauss agreed to a relaxing of a midnight curfew which was imposed two weeks ago.
That measure was taken in response to reports of Jonny Bairstow's 'headbutt' greeting for Cameron Bancroft, also in a Perth bar on the first night of England's tour in October, and comes as Ben Stokes waits to discover if he will be charged after his arrest on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm following a fracas outside a nightclub in Bristol in September.
Duckett is likely to discover the outcome of his hearing within 24 hours and it is understood there was no police involvement in the incident, which did not affect any members of the public.
England lost the second Test in Adelaide by 120 runs to leave them 2-0 down in the series, with three games to play.
