Cricket
Stoneman rejects bad discipline claims
Mark Stoneman has insisted England do not have a disciplinary problem and "a lot has been made of nothing" on the Ashes tour.
England have been the subject of some unwanted headlines in recent months, both before the Ashes tour and while Down Under.
They were already without key man Ben Stokes for the trip after his involvement in an fracas outside a Bristol nightclub earlier in the year, while Johnny Bairstow was then accused of headbutting Australia's Cameron Bancroft before Ben Duckett was suspended from the Lions tour of Australia after pouring a drink over team-mate James Anderson while on a night out.
Despite the apparent off-field misdemeanors, Stoneman insists there is not a disciplinary problem in the squad and things have been blown out of proportion.
He told BBC Sport: "Despite what's being reported in matters off-field this group has really worked hard and it's just those key moments each time they've managed to get the upper hand on us.
"There's a lot made of nothing really and there's work that's going in, commitment that everybody throughout the group has shown, from the very beginning, pre-tour even, to give our utmost to be successful over here.
"Yes results haven't gone our way but the commitment and effort has never been wavering and that's quite disappointing when all the reports have been about trivial things."
England have lost the first three Tests and next up is the Boxing Day clash in Melbourne before the fifth and final Test takes place in Sydney from January 3.
Aidan Perkins is a senior journalist that specialises in football stories. Aidan, a Liverpool fan, also has a broad knowledge of several other sports.
