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LONDOn. — Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has hit out at English cricket after another off-field controversy. England’s Ashes tour has been plunged into a fresh crisis with batsman Ben Duckett stood down from a tour game on Saturday and suspended following a new incident in a Perth bar.

Duckett, who was selected to open the batting in England’s two-day tour match against a Cricket Australia XI in Perth, was a late omission from the team. Team coach Trevor Bayliss confirmed reports that Duckett was involved in an incident late on Thursday where he poured a drink over a senior player following a heated row.

It was the first night after England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) director of cricket Andrew Strauss agreed to a relaxing of the midnight curfew placed on the Test squad a fortnight ago. That curfew followed news that wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow headbutted Australian Test opener Cameron Bancroft in a Perth bar during the tourists’ first night on tour.

Pietersen took to Twitter to express his dissatisfaction with the England set-up and also took a dig at Strauss, with whom he’s had run-ins with in the past. Duckett (23) has been touring Australia with England Lions and was among a number of players promoted for the current tour match while senior players rested ahead of next week’s all-important third Test against Australia in Perth.

Star all-rounder Ben Stokes is already suspended from the tour after he became involved in an incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September that led to police investigations, although he is currently playing domestic cricket in New Zealand.

Reports said that no members of the public were involved in the Duckett incident and police were not involved. Duckett, who has played in four Tests for England, has been caught up in controversy in the past and was left out of Northants’ tour to Barbados in 2015. He was once dropped from the England Under 19 team for fitness issues. England are 2-0 down in the Ashes series and will relinquish the urn if they are beaten in the third Test, starting on Thursday. — AFP.