London: In a distasteful postscript to their Ashes triumph, three top England players were at the centre of a huge controversy following reports that they allegedly urinated on the pitch at The Oval here hours after the fifth and final Test ended on Sunday night.
The allegations, which originated from Australian journalists who were at the press box as darkness enveloped the ground, involved Stuart Broad, Kevin Pietersen and James Anderson, who had all made significant contributions to England’s 3-0 triumph in the series.
The players are alleged to have taken turns to urinate on the pitch after they sat on the ground with their post-match drinks, according to an Australian journalist.
The three players relieved themselves on the pitch to the cheers of team mates as the England players celebrated the victory.
England wicketkeeper Matt Prior tweeted a picture of the players drinking beer on the Oval pitch in darkness, calling it the “best moment of the Ashes”.
Britain’s Sports Minister Hugh Robertson said that the allegations will be examined but England coach Andy Flower refused to comment.
Robertson said, “If it happened it is not good behaviour”.
According to media reports, about five hours after the last Test was stopped due to bad light with England close to victory, the players gathered near the pitch to continue their celebrations.
While the centre of the ground was quite dark, lights were on in the grandstands with people still cleaning up after a late finish, which saw the game go beyond usual time.
Curator Cam Sutherland said that it was not a “good look” and called it unfortunate.
The final Test match of the series ended in a dramatic draw on Sunday after umpires took the players off for bad light, with England needing 21 to win in four overs.
There was controversy surrounding the ending and the umpires, Aleem Dar and Kumar Dharmasena, and Australian skipper Michael Clarke were booed by the home crowd.
However, the result did not seem to dampen English euphoria as the players celebrated in the most unusual manner.
The Ashes series had been dogged by controversies from the very first Test with the Decision Review System being the centre of intense debate.
Stuart Broad’s decision not to walk after clearly edging the ball in the very first Test created a lot of bad blood between the two teams and set the tone for the remainder of the series.
Australian coach Darren Lehmann lashed out at Broad, saying the pacer would not be spared by the Aussies when England travel Down Under for the return series.
Lehmann had accused Broad of “blatant cheating” and was fined 20 per cent of his match fee after pleading guilty to a charge of publicly criticising and making inappropriate comments against Broad in relation to an incident that occurred in a match. (PTI)