England cricketers spooked by ghosts at Regent Street hotel

Blackleaf

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England's cricketers are convinced that the hotel they are staying in is haunted.

The players are staying at the world-renowned, 5-star Langham Hotel on London's Regent Street.

During Test matches in London this summer, some players have requested to move rooms, whilst some wives and girlfriends have refused to stay there at all after reports of mysterious goings-on at night.

‘During the Sri Lanka Test I had to move rooms,’ said fast bowler Stuart Broad.

‘It was so hot in the room I just couldn’t sleep. All of a sudden the taps in the bathroom came on for no reason. I turned the lights on and the taps turned themselves off. Then when I turned the lights off again the taps came on. It was very weird.

‘It really freaked me out. I ended up asking to move rooms. Bealey (Broad’s girlfriend) was pretty spooked, too, and I know Moeen Ali’s other half won’t stay there because she’s so frightened of the ghosts.

‘Ben Stokes has had some problems sleeping as well. He’s on the third floor, which is where a lot of the issues are. I’m telling you, something weird is going on.’

The Langham Hotel - renowned as one of the finest in London - was opened in 1865 by The Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) and subsequently frequented by the cream of Victorian society including literary luminaries such as Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde.


Room 333 is believed to be the most haunted room with the hotel’s own website stating: ‘In 1973 a BBC radio announcer James Alexander-Gordon awoke suddenly in the night to see a fluorescent ball which slowly took on the shape of a man wearing Victorian evening wear. The announcer asked the ghost what it wanted and it began to float towards him, with its legs cut off some two feet below the ground, arms outstretched, eyes staring emptily. At this point the announcer got up and fled.’

This is not the first case of cricketers being spooked out in their hotel,
with Australia all-rounder Shane Watson famously having to share a room with team-mate Brett Lee because he was scared of ghostly goings on at Lumley Castle Hotel near Durham during the 2005 Ashes Series.

EXCLUSIVE: England spooked both on and off the field as Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad struggle to sleep because of Langham Hotel's GHOSTS


England are convinced their five-star central London hotel is haunted

Broad and Stokes are among the stars struggling to sleep as a result

Broad shared a twin room with Matt Prior because they were both scared

Some WAGs have refused to stay at the world-renowned Langham Hotel

Broad revealed he had to move rooms during the first Sri Lanka Test

Stokes is on third floor 'which is where a lot of the issue are', says Broad

It has been reported that seven ghosts roam the corridors of the Langham

Room 333 is believe to be the most haunted room in the whole hotel

Australian Shane Watson famously had to share a room with Brett Lee at Lumley Castle near Durham because he was scared of the ghost stories


By Sam Peters
20 July 2014
Daily Mail

England's players have had plenty of excuses to lose sleep through their woeful on-field displays in recent months but paranormal activity in their hotel bedrooms is surely taking things to an extreme.

While the ghost of ousted Kevin Pietersen may be haunting the power-brokers at the ECB, it has emerged that the current team are convinced their five-star central London hotel is haunted, causing several stars to have difficulty sleeping at night.

Sportsmail has learned that a number of players have requested to move rooms, while some wives and girlfriends have refused to stay at the world-renowned Langham Hotel during London Test matches this summer after complaints of mysterious goings-on at night.


Spooked: Ben Stokes is among the England players who have been unnerved by ghostly goings-on



Who you gonna call? Stuart Broad is also scared by the possible presence of ghosts at the Langham Hotel


SPORTSMAIL'S HAUNTED XI


  1. Sourav Ganghouly
  2. Neil 'The Ghost' Mallender
  3. Michael 'Whispering Death' Holding
  4. Craig 'Deathly' White
  5. Shane 'Spooked' Watson
  6. Michael 'Casper' Kasprovich
  7. Chris Whooooaaaakes
  8. Dean Headless
  9. Chris Tremble-ett
  10. David Cower
  11. Nick Knight-mare
‘During the Sri Lanka Test I had to move rooms,’ said fast bowler Stuart Broad.

‘It was so hot in the room I just couldn’t sleep. All of a sudden the taps in the bathroom came on for no reason. I turned the lights on and the taps turned themselves off. Then when I turned the lights off again the taps came on. It was very weird.

‘It really freaked me out. I ended up asking to move rooms. Bealey (Broad’s girlfriend) was pretty spooked, too, and I know Moeen Ali’s other half won’t stay there because she’s so frightened of the ghosts.

‘Ben Stokes has had some problems sleeping as well. He’s on the third floor, which is where a lot of the issues are. I’m telling you, something weird is going on.’

The Langham Hotel - renowned as one of the finest in London - was opened in 1865 by The Prince of Wales and subsequently frequented by the cream of Victorian society including literary luminaries such as Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde.


Favourite haunt: England have been staying at the world-renowned Langham Hotel on Regent Street in London for recent Tests



Ghostly goings-on: Broad (left), Stokes (right) and several England WAGs have been scared by the ghouls


But it has also been reported that as many as seven ghosts have been seen stalking the corridors and bedrooms - including a German doctor who reportedly murdered his wife while on honeymoon at the hotel before committing suicide and a soldier who committed suicide by throwing himself off a balcony.

Room 333 is believed to be the most haunted room with the hotel’s own website stating: ‘In 1973 a BBC radio announcer James Alexander-Gordon awoke suddenly in the night to see a fluorescent ball which slowly took on the shape of a man wearing Victorian evening wear. The announcer asked the ghost what it wanted and it began to float towards him, with its legs cut off some two feet below the ground, arms outstretched, eyes staring emptily. At this point the announcer got up and fled.’

The hotel’s history has clearly affected Alastair Cook’s men, too, with some of the most senior players in the team convinced the hotel is haunted.


Safety in numbers: Broad (left) shared a twin room with wicketkeeper Matt Prior (right) in the hotel



Ghostly presence: England have been spooked both on and off the pitch so far this summer

‘I’ve slept okay during the current Test (against India) but the Sri Lanka Test (last month) was not great,’ added Broad. ‘One night I woke up in the middle of the night, around 1.30am and I was convinced there was a presence in the room. It was the weirdest feeling.

‘I turned the light on and looked online and could see (wicketkeeper) Matt Prior was online, too. I went to his room and he said exactly the same thing! He was wide awake as well. Neither of us could sleep because we were so spooked out.

‘Matt was in a twin room so I ended up sharing with him. I don’t know if it’s because we’re talking about it more that we sensing more is going on but it’s weird. It’s definitely caused a few sleepless nights.’

The hotel declined to comment.

It is not the first time Test cricketers have been spooked, with Australia all-rounder Shane Watson famously having to share a room with team-mate Brett Lee in 2005 because he was scared of ghostly goings on at Lumley Castle Hotel near Durham.


Ghouls: Australian opener Shane Watson was spooked by ghosts while staying at Lumley Castle near Durham



Bedtime stories: Lumley Castle in Chester-le-Street near Durham is said to be haunted by ghosts



The haunted castle overlooks Durham County Cricket Club's Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground at Chester-le-Street

 
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captain morgan

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A Mouse Once Bit My Sister
I'll give them this however, that is a highly creative excuse.

maybe the team can organize an exorcist in anticipation of them being possessed by demons as the reason for losing the next tourney