England play down Flintoff's night out

The England tour management has sought to play down a night out on a cruise ship by Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison within hours of the Sabina Park rout last Saturday. The fast bowlers were on board with sponsors and friends, including former England cricketers Allan Lamb and Darren Gough, and then flew back by helicopter the next morning.

"They sought permission to go from Andrew Strauss on the playing side and Phil Neale [the team manager] on the operations side. They had been invited by friends and sponsors who they knew well," Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket who is on tour with the team, said.

There is no suggestion that Flintoff and Harmison violated team rules. "We spoke to some people on the cruise ship who said they behaved impeccably and we've had no complaints as far as the board and England management is concerned," Morris, who was unaware of the trip until Tuesday, said.

The off-shore excursion was a low-key affair and a far cry from Flintoff's infamous pedalo incident in St Lucia during the 2007 World Cup.

Gough said Flintoff and Harmison merely enjoyed a quiet evening out. "When they came on board they took me by surprise actually," he told Talksport. "They came on board to say hello and then we set sail.

"They had dinner on the cruise. Harmison shocked me, he didn't have a drink at all and he said he was off the beer for another month. He was being sensible and I thought 'good on him'.

"Freddie [Flintoff], who was sat on a table opposite from myself with some friends from Lancashire, had literally two glasses of wine with dinner. He too was very sensible."

Morris, who is accompanying the tour to bring some stability to the management structure in the absence of a head coach, has sought to limit any potential damage. Pointing out that "the next day there was no cricket", Morris said: "Everyone was bitterly disappointed by the result [of the Kingston Test], none more so than Andrew and Steve. It's certainly not a case of the players not caring. They were deeply hurt by the result in Jamaica and it was a question of being invited onto a boat to have dinner. It was no reflection on the hurt the players were feeling."