England will investigate reports of excessive drinking during the Ashes break

England team manager Rob Key said they would look into reports that players drank too much during a break between the second and third Ashes Tests this month.

Australia completed an 82-run victory on the fifth day of the third Test in Adelaide on Sunday to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series and retain the trophy.

After eight-wicket defeats in Perth and Brisbane, the England camp took a break in Noosa, with reports in British and Australian media suggesting the players had been drinking throughout their time in the holiday hotspot.

“The headlines can be misleading at times, saying it’s a stag and the like. Stories of players drinking liquids for six days – that’s unacceptable,” Key told the BBC in an interview published Tuesday.

“We’re going to look to see what the facts are as opposed to things that have been embellished or edited… When you see a picture of five or six guys sitting down to lunch, some of them having drinks, you have to see what’s going on with that.

“If it’s true that it’s become a stag and people drink too much all the time, that’s not acceptable. I don’t agree with the drinking culture. I don’t like the drinking culture.”

Ahead of the Ashes series, Key had urged the England team not to “get caught doing stupid things”.

The fourth Test of the series begins on Friday in Melbourne.

Australia coach Andrew MacDonald said he expected his side to be firing on all cylinders after celebrating their victory on Sunday.

“There’s no direction from me, they’re all adults,” McDonald told reporters Tuesday.

“They know how they have to prepare for a test match and they will be ready come Boxing Day morning. I don’t think there will be a hangover. Maybe yesterday there was a hangover and maybe today, I’m not sure.”