"The guys got a bit fed up" - Steve Smith opens up on the post-Ashes drinks controversy

Australia's star batter Steve Smith has shared his side of the story regarding the post-Ashes drinks saga. Smith lamented the incident, stating that it was the first time in his career that Australian and English players didn't share drinks after the 2023 Ashes.

The five-Test series ending 2-2 after England's win in the final match at The Oval. After the match, both teams didn't meet up for a friendly chat as they have often done in recent series.

England captain Ben Stokes later stated on Twitter that wrapping things up took plenty of time and that they met at a nightclub later.

Speaking to SEN 1170’s "The Run Home," Steve Smith said Stokes told them it would take a couple of minutes to wrap things up, but that the tourists waited for an hour. He added that they felt it was time to leave having waited for that long.

"We did knock on the door a couple of times. We were waiting around a while and Stokesy came out at one point and said 'Two minutes,' and about an hour passed. We thought, 'We can’t keep sitting here. Are we going to have a beer or not?'" Smith explained.

"The guys got a bit fed up and decided it was time to go. It was unfortunate, it was the first time in my career that we’ve not had a drink with them after a series and it was a bit of a shame."

England opener Zak Crawley also admitted that it was a shame they could not share drinks after a gruelling series. He added that the Test retirements of Stuart Broad and Moeen Ali took them longer than they hoped to wrap things up.

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Steve Smith excited at batting at the top of the order in T20Is

Steve Smith. (Image Credits: Twitter)

Steve Smith is set to open the batting in Australia's upcoming three-match T20I series against South Africa, a role he performed admirably in the Big Bash League. Speaking about the same, Smith stated that he always wanted to bat at that spot and said:

"They said they were going to give me an opportunity up the top a couple of weeks ago. It was something I jumped at, I haven’t done a great deal of it. It was something I did in the Big Bash, I had a bit of success up there. It’s the place you want to bat, probably, in T20 cricket or white-ball cricket all together."

The first of the three T20Is between Australia and South Africa will take place on August 30 in Durban.