Jan. 18: Photographs have emerged of Australian cricketers, Michael Clarke and Phillip Hughes drinking at a Melbourne bar well into the night on the eve of their humiliating Ashes series defeat at the MCG. According to media reports, the duo was spotted drinking at the World Restaurant Bar on the third night of the Melbourne Test, which Australia went on to lose by an innings and 157 runs to help England retain the Ashes on foreign soil for the first time in 24 years.
The pictures have raised some serious questions pertaining to the professionalism and discipline of Aussie cricketers but Test vice-captain Michael Clarke has reiterated that he has done nothing wrong. “There’s no doubt Phillip and I went to a restaurant bar, we had dinner there, I had two drinks and didn’t have a late night at all,” the 29-year-old Clarke clarified.
“I have absolutely no idea what time I got home, but I guarantee you it wasn’t late,” Clarke said. The batsman then admitted to leaving the restaurant to go to the casino to meet up with Michael Slater for some advice, because he “wasn’t scoring as many runs as (he) would have liked.”