Photographs have emerged of Australian cricketers, Michael Clarke and Phillip Hughes drinking at a Melbourne bar well into the night on the eve of their humiliating Ashes series defeat at the MCG.

According to media reports, the duo was spotted drinking at the World Restaurant Bar on the third night of the Melbourne Test, which Australia went on to lose by an innings and 157 runs to help England retain the Ashes on foreign soil for the first time in 24 years.