Langham Hotel's Ghosts responsible for England's Lord's defeat...?

New Delhi: 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.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.‘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.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.‘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 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.