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England vice-captain Ollie Pope has advised his team-mates to ‘wear a helmet’ after they were caught riding e-scooters in Brisbane with protection.
England arrived in Brisbane ahead of the pink-ball Ashes Test last Wednesday after losing the opening match of the series inside two days.
However, England captain Ben Stokes, Mark Wood, and Jamie Smith were photographed riding e-scooters without helmets, highlighting the media scrutiny since their arrival in Australia.
Under Queensland law, all riders of e-scooters must wear a helmet, with riders without a helmet facing a fine of up to 166 Australian dollars (£82).
Speaking to the media ahead of the second Test, Pope advised England players to abide by the rules.
“Just put a helmet on next time. Rules are rules,” said Pope.
He called the break vital for players and recalled the COVID-19 restrictions during their previous Ashes tour down under.
“Just put a helmet on next time. Rules are rules. For us as cricketers and as people, it’s important to try and be able to switch off and be yourself,” he said.
Locking your doors and not coming out of your room is the unhealthy thing to do, as we saw in Covid times. Whatever you’re doing in your off time, whether it’s just taking your mind away from cricket for a day or two, that’s really important,” he added.
“If they want to catch us doing that, then so be it. It is important to have that balance on a long tour like this,” Pope concluded.
For the unversed, England are 1-0 down after losing the Ashes opener against Australia by eight wickets at Perth, courtesy of Travis Head’s blistering century.
Head hit a whirlwind 69-ball century and went on to make 123 off just 83 balls, which made a mockery of England’s 205-run target.
The second day-night Ashes Test will commence on Thursday, with three lions eyeing their first victory against Australia down under since 2010.
