Australia batter Travis Head has downplayed the drama over England's mid-series trip to Noosa, claiming that external noise had exaggerated the incident.

With the ECB undertaking an internal assessment of the team's conduct, Head took a lighthearted approach when asked about the matter, even joking that he was "jealous" of England's brief break amid a hard Ashes 2025-26 tour.

Speaking to the media following Australia's two-day defeat on a contentious MCG surface, Head stated that the reaction had gone too far. Speaking to reporters, the Australian left-hander emphasized that such breaks were not uncommon on extended tours and that the debate was mostly motivated by the time between Test matches rather than any severe transgression.

“Everyone else has made a lot more out of it than what it should have been. We’ve done the same thing on past tours, so I didn’t really have an issue with it. What you do in your personal time is up to you. I know we live a high-profile life, and some people are more high-profile than others and get themselves in situations, but at the end of the day, it’s a bit stiff," Head told reporters.  

England needed a mental break after losing the first two tests of the series and decided to spend time in Noosa, a beach town in Queensland. However, their break soon dominated headlines after reports emerged of players being involved in a late-night drinking episode in Queensland.

The Australian opener said he contacted Duckett to see how he was doing, and he was sorry to see a private incident go public and become a talking point.

“I spoke about it a couple of weeks ago. We’ve done the same thing on past tours, so I didn’t really have an issue with it. From one of his own as well—I reckon he was an English fan too—which makes it even tougher.

I get along well with Ducky and reached out to him to check if he’s doing alright. Everyone’s still human; everyone’s still people. When there are big gaps between tests, people have to find something to talk about. Hopefully, we can play a bit longer next week and give them less to talk about," he added.

Despite losing the Ashes urn after going 0-3 down in the series, England managed a huge fightback in the fourth Test at Melbourne and won the game by four wickets that ended in two days.