Will Macpherson
Joe Root said he was “really hacked off” to be discussing another “stupid mistake” by an England player after Brydon Carse’s nightclub scandal.
In an attempt to draw a line in the sand over his team’s behaviour after Carse was briefly detained by police last weekend, the England Test captain laid down the law to his players before the second Test against Pakistan starts at Lord’s on Thursday.
Carse was arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, before being de-arrested soon afterwards, early Sunday morning while on a night out with Ben Stokes and other Durham county teammates in Derby.
The 31-year-old has been dropped from the England squad for Thursday’s second Test at Lord’s. He was an unused member of the squad who won at Headingley, and was sent instead to play for Durham. They beat Derbyshire on Saturday, after which the trouble began during celebrations.
It was the latest in a string of off-field incidents during the past year, starting with Harry Brook being punched by a nightclub bouncer in Wellington, hours before leading England in a one-day international. A boozy Ashes tour followed, then Stokes and Gus Atkinson stayed out beyond the team’s midnight curfew after the first Test win over New Zealand, an incident which ultimately led to Stokes’ international retirement in June.
Root brought forward his captain’s press conference by 24 hours to address the issue. He was unable to provide details because the matter is in the hands of the cricket regulator, which is investigating Carse’s behaviour. Derbyshire Police say they are not investigating the matter.
“If I’m being brutally honest I’m really hacked off,” Root said. “I’m really disappointed that, after last week’s performance, we’re sat here, and we’re talking about something that is not related to it at all.
“In terms of the incident itself, it’s obviously with the regulator and there’s not a lot I can say about it. It’s in their hands now.
“I’ve spoken to Brydon – when I first found out my first concern was him as a person. He’s someone I’ve spent a lot of time with, who’s spent a lot of time in this dressing room, and you develop personal relationships with players.
“I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn in saying he’s very upset, very apologetic and understands his actions. I’m sure when he gets his chance he will say that himself.
“It’s not the isolated incident itself, it’s the fact we continuously keep making stupid mistakes away from the game and it’s detracting from what we are doing on the field.”
Root returned to the captaincy after Stokes’ retirement, and instantly ditched the curfew, which had been brought in after the Ashes. Root had called on his players to behave like “adults”, only for Carse to be in trouble with the police days later. Root drew a line in the sand on the team’s culture. He is due to be joined by a new head coach, Stephen Fleming, next month, and is determined to transform the side’s image into one in which the players are “exceptional off the field”.
Before speaking to the media, Root addressed his teammates in the Lord’s dressing room. He described this as “robust conversations” about behaviour and culture. He said he was not asking players to behave like “saints”, but begged do not put themselves “in certain situations”.
“My concern is what happens moving from this point,” he said. “We have an opportunity now, to create something and build something, that around the cricket we can be really proud of. We made good strides on the field last week. This is not something I want to forget about in a week’s time, or a few weeks’ time or six weeks’ time, this is something we want to live and breathe every day. That is my concern, that is my focus.
“Clearly we are not portraying ourselves how we want to and I think we have an opportunity to build a culture that is very strong, that we can be proud of, that is player-driven and of course that isn’t going to happen overnight.
“Over the next little while as leader of this team, with Stephen and the group of players themselves, it’s to make something that is just that.
“It’s important we create something bigger, it’s about having something long-lasting that we can be proud of, that we can pass on to the next generation of players for them to evolve and be proud of.
“I might only be in this dressing room for a couple more years, maybe a bit longer than that. There’s a group of players there that are going to be around for the next 10 years, and they can live and breathe something and achieve something over that period of time.”
Carse travelled to London with Stokes, who was doing commercial work, on Sunday, but has now left and will play for Durham on Thursday. Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, had called for a punishment that “sends a shiver down the whole England cricket team”.
Telegraph, London