Ashes 2017: England suspend Ben Duckett after incident in Perth bar

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Tom Collomosse9 December 2017

England's Ashes tour threatened to descend into chaos on Saturday as Lions batsman Ben Duckett was suspended following an incident in a Perth bar on Thursday night.

Duckett is the subject of a disciplinary investigation conducted by Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, and Andy Flower, who worked with England from 2009-13 and now oversees the Lions. He was due to meet both on Saturday.

As well as Duckett and members of the Lions squad, several senior England players are understood to have been present that evening, after the squad's midnight curfew was lifted for 24 hours only, following the Ashes squad's arrival in Perth from Adelaide.

The 23-year-old Northamptonshire batsman, who has played four Tests, was immediately withdrawn from this weekend's tour match between an England XI and a Cricket Australia representative side.

It is believed no members of the public were involved in the incident and police were not called. Members of the ECB's security team also accompanied the players on the night.

Duckett is likely to learn his fate on Sunday but the matter has potential to cause huge embarrassment for the ECB and England management, especially if one of the Ashes squad is involved.

The curfew was imposed after England lost the First Test at Brisbane last month, when news emerged of Jonny Bairstow's bizarre 'headbutt' greeting aimed at Cameron Bancroft in The Avenue bar in Perth on October 29, the first night of England's tour.

When he put the curfew in place, director of cricket Andrew Strauss is thought to have read the riot act to all players and staff at their Brisbane hotel.

Strauss flew back to England after the defeat at Adelaide in the Second Test but is due to return before the Fourth Test at Melbourne. He will be kept informed of proceedings while the investigation into this latest incident is conducted.

Duckett was first chosen by England for their tours of Bangladesh and India a year ago, but struggled to make an impact and has not been selected for the Test squad since.

On the pitch, an England side captained by Moeen Ali struggled to impose themselves against the Cricket Australia side, after being asked to bat first.

Moeen wanted to play in this match to spend time in the middle but he made only 24 before edging pace bowler Nick Buchanan behind.

At one stage, England lost three wickets without adding to their total and had reached 201 for seven when rain interrupted play during the afternoon session, and meant tea was taken early.

Keaton Jennings, who opened the batting for England against South Africa last summer, top-scored with 80 as England declared 314 for nine with Tom Curran left 77 not out.

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