'Reached Out To Him To See If...": Travis Head Extends Support To Ben Duckett Amid Scrutiny Of Viral Clips From England's Noosa Trip

Australian opener Travis Head extended his support to under-fire England opener Ben Duckett following Aussies' Boxing Day Test loss. Ducket is under scrutiny for a footage of him appearing allegedly being drunk during his team's trip to Noosa circulating on social media. Head said that "everyone is still human and what one does in their personal time is upto them", reported Sky News.

Duckett, who played a crucial 34-run knock in a modest chase of 175 runs at Melbourne, setting up the tone for a win with England's first half-century stand of the series, is facing backlash from fans and investigation from his own board, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for his video in which he looks allegedly drunk, struggling to find his way to to the team hotel.

Following a thumping loss in the pink-ball Test at Brisbane, which sent England 2-0 down in the series, the England players headed to Noosa for a recreational outing ahead of the all-important third Test at Adelaide Oval. After England lost the Adelaide Test despite a valiant fight while chasing 435 runs and missing out by 82 runs, videos of Duckett and all-rounder Jacob Bethell drinking and in party mood circulated on social media, inviting trolling from their own fans. Duckett's sub-par tour did not help him either, as most of the trolling and scrutiny directed at him, with the ECB saying that they will investigate the video.

Head, who was the part of the U19 World Cup class of 2012 with Duckett, said, "I get along with Ducky well, I reached out to him to see if he was going alright," reported Sky News. "Everyone is still human. What you do in personal time is up to you. I know we live a high-profile life and some people are more high-profile...but at the end of the day it was a bit unfair."

"Everyone made a lot more out of it that there should have been. We have done the same thing on past tours. I don't have an issue with it."

"When there is big gaps in Tests people have got to find something to talk about. Hopefully, we can play a bit longer next week, and there is less stuff to talk about," he concluded. In the ongoing Ashes series, Duckett has been less than sub-par, having made just 133 runs across eight innings in four Tests at an average of 16.62, with a best score of 34.

Rob Key, the England men's team managing director, said he would examine what actually happened during the break and decide whether any action was needed.

"If there are things where people are saying that our players went out and drank excessively then of course we'll be looking into that," Key had said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

"Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol for an international cricket team is not something that I would expect to see at any stage, and it would be a fault not to look into what happened there. But from everything that I have heard so far, they were very well behaved," he noted.

"I have read what's been written in the last day or so, and if it goes into where they are drinking lots and it is a stag do, all that type of stuff, that's completely unacceptable. I am not a drinker. I think a drinking culture does not help anyone in any stretch whatsoever," he added.

"I have no issue with the Noosa trip if it was to get away and just throw your phone away, down tools, go on the beach... Everything that I've heard so far is that they sat down, had lunch, had dinner, did not go out late, had the odd drink. I do not mind that. If it goes past that, then that's an issue as far as I am concerned... There are lots of people there that might disagree with that, but that is what we will find out," he concluded.

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