Steve Finn denies there is a drinking culture in the England squad

A number of issues have created unwanted headlines, among them Jonny Bairstow's 'headbutt' on Cameron Bancroft and Ben Duckett's suspension for an incident with James Anderson

'I know they're good people and I know there's no malice in anything they're doing' (Getty)

Steve Finn insists recent disciplinary lapses are not reflective of a drinking culture in English cricket, claiming that more alcohol was drunk on previous Ashes tours.

A number of issues have created unwanted headlines, among them Jonny Bairstow's 'headbutt' on Cameron Bancroft and Lions batsman Ben Duckett's suspension for an incident with James Anderson that also took place in a Perth bar.

Ben Stokes is waiting to find out if he will be charged for causing actual bodily harm during a late-night fracas in September, which also involved Alex Hales, while Bairstow and Jake Ball were warned over their behaviour during the one-day series against the West Indies in the same month.

Finn's own Ashes tour was ended by torn knee cartilage - the Middlesex bowler could recover in time to face New Zealand - and he has been watching England surrender a 2-0 series lead during his swifter than expected rehabilitation.

But his time with Joe Root's squad, judged against his experience of previous visits Down Under, convinces him that it is unfair to criticise England's players too harshly.

"I toured away in Australia in 2010-11 when I was a young man and there was a lot of alcohol drunk on that tour," said Finn, who was speaking at a Chance to Shine and NatWest event.

"There was lots of going out - way, way more than what happens under this current regime.

"For the last two years there's certainly no underlying culture issue in my opinion and I have been a part of three eras of English cricket now.

"When Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower first started, a genuine way of building team rapport and trust was to spend time together like that.

"What's happened has changed that. It's bad publicity for cricket, which is bad for us as a sport in general not just this Ashes tour.

"Maybe in a couple of situations we've not been quite as aware as we could have been, but in the past these things wouldn't have caused any offence or outrage.

"They're not an irresponsible bunch of guys and the way that they're being painted sometimes is really unfair on them, because they're not bad people or troublemakers.

"I know they're good people and I know there's no malice in anything they're doing."


 Steve Finn was ruled out of the entire Ashes tour due to a freak knee injury 
 (Getty)

In the early hours of Thursday morning hostilities with Australia resume at the Waca where England have not won since 1978, but Finn refuses to concede the series.

"From cold hard facts, it doesn't look great. But I know the guys in the dressing room believe they can cause an upset in Perth," Finn said.

"Australia could be overconfident in this situation while England know they've had a chance in both games so far and hopefully for the rest of the series they can take those chances."

Chance to Shine has developed free digital cricket resources for primary schools available from chancetoshine.org. The charity has partnered with NatWest to give all young people the opportunity to play and learn through cricket #NoBoundaries