The Australian media's latest attempt to unsettle England's bid to retain the Ashes has been rebuffed by the England and Wales Cricket Board as coach Graham Gooch called on Alastair Cook's side to rise to the challenge in the second Test, which starts in Adelaide this week, according to reports.
According to The Independent, Stuart Broad, Kevin Pietersen and Jonnny Bairstow were pictured in Adelaide nightclub Zhivago in the early hours of Monday morning, and a local newspaper claimed that their late-night outing four days before the Test could lead to a reprimand from coach Andy Flower.
However, an ECB spokeswoman has confirmed that England's players had been given permission to go out following their delayed arrival in South Australia from their tour match in Alice Springs and that no disciplinary action would be taken, the report said.
Broad and Pietersen were both targeted by the local media before the first Test in Brisbane, with a newspaper refusing to mention the former by name throughout the match and suggesting the latter is unpopular with his England team-mates, the report added.