The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has asked the Wives and Girlfriends (WAGs) of England’s cricket heroes to keep a low profile during the Ashes tour Down Under, to avoid a repeat of the debacle suffered by the English soccer team at the Football World Cup in Germany, earlier this year.
The WAGs were given a ticking off in advance of the Ashes trip to stop them being spotted on shopping or drinking binges.
ECB communication chief Colin Gibson gave the warning in a talk to the players on Monday.
"The Aussies are bound to be interested in the WAGs and the girls have been warned they could be in for a lot of unwelcome attention. They have been advised to avoid talking to the media or drawing attention to themselves in any way," said an ECB official.
Skipper Andrew Flintoff said though the WAGs won't be courting any media attention by themselves, chances were that they might be targeted by the media as some of them were celebrities in their own right.
Ruth Strauss, wife of opening batsman Andrew was an Australian actress and it might make her a target for flak, reports The Sun.
{{/usCountry}}Ruth Strauss, wife of opening batsman Andrew was an Australian actress and it might make her a target for flak, reports The Sun.
{{/usCountry}}"My family will be there and so will some other families. I don’t think they will be courting any media attention but in some ways that’s out of our control," said Flintoff.
ECB will pay the families’ airfares and the WAGs will even receive a modest daily allowance for expenses like meals.