Ashes 2025-26: “When you're losing, spotlight…,” Steve Smith expresses empathy for England players amid ‘drinking’ criticism

England cricketers are facing backlash for alleged excessive drinking in Noosa during Ashes break.

Australia’s stand-in skipper Steve Smith has expressed his sympathy for the Ben Stokes-led England as the touring team faced severe backlash after losing the Ashes series.

The Three Lions conceded the urn in just 11 days, having suffered defeats in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide. With two games remaining, they will have to buck up or face further humiliation of a 5-0 whitewash.

Amid the on-field debacle, the visitors are also drawing flak for alleged excessive drinking in Noosa during the break between second and third Ashes Tests. ECB has vowed to investigate the drinking accusations.

On the eve of the Boxing Day Ashes Test at MCG, Smith was asked if he felt any sympathy for the English side, which is under heavy criticism.

Smith, who was the centre of attention in the ball-tampering episode in 2018, is familiar with the scrutiny and felt for England's current situation.

“When you're losing, the spotlight is always on you and things can get spoken about and get blown up pretty heavily. So … I feel for them, in a way. It can be tricky. You're in a country where you know you can go out and about and enjoy yourselves, and with big breaks, you know, you've got to experience the country that you're in as well. And they had a pretty big break in between,” Smith told reporters.

Smith, who missed the third Ashes Test in Adelaide due to vertigo symptoms, stated he has no problem with the team taking a break between matches and believes it can serve as a reset for teams under pressure or not at their best.

"Sometimes I think you've just got to – and I heard a few of the comments – but you have got to get away from the game and try and put it out of your mind and just relax for a little bit too. And I can see that's the kind of path that they wanted to go down and I think it's fair enough.

"I can't really comment more than that on how they're feeling or how they're going about things but, yeah, I certainly believe that when you've lost two Test matches, and you've got such a long break, sometimes you just need to get away from the game and switch off entirely," the Aussie stalwart remarked.

(With IANS Inputs)