'We knocked on the door, an hour passed after Stokes said 2 minutes': Steve Smith on post-Ashes beer snub

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Steve Smith has given details of the 'beer snub' which the Australia team faced at the hands of England after the Ashes 2023 ended in a draw. Notably, the England and Australia players traditionally chat over a few beers and drinks after the completion of the every Ashes series.

However, no such post-Ashes drink session took place as Australian players had to leave after waiting for hours for their England counterparts to come and join them. Smith revealed that England captain Ben Stokes came out after repeatedly knocking on the door of the England dressing room and suggested his team would join in a few minutes but that never happened.

"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," Smith told SEN.

"We thought, 'we can't keep sitting here. Are we going to have a beer or not'? 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.

"They caught up with a few of the boys in the nightclub later on that night, I had gone home by that stage, but it was a shame not to have a beer and reflect on what was a pretty cool series," he added.

Ben Stokes had taken to his Twitter handle to deny reports that England players declined Australia's invitation. He said because Stuart Broad and Moeen Ali were retiring from Test cricket, it took his time longer than expected to wrap up "multiple last time event’s". He added that the two teams decided to meet at the night club rather than a dressing room.

However, Australia's left-hand batter Travis Head recently said that England and Australia players landing up at the same nightclub after the 5th day happened by only chance.