RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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One need not be an expert in crisis communications to know that seeing the words “nightclub incident” in a headline for the third time in nine months is far from ideal. After Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue in Wellington came Gus Atkinson and Ben Stokes in Chelsea and, now, Brydon Carse in Derby. And that’s without even mentioning the supposed mid-Ashes boozing of Noosa.
This England team simply don’t know how to get out of their own way. Two comprehensive Test wins this summer have each been overshadowed almost immediately by an off-field misdemeanour. Now, it is worth stressing that this latest fracas is distinct from the Stokes/Atkinson incident of June. While Carse ended up in handcuffs, he was released without charge after what is understood to have been a minor incident, one which occurred not on England time but while celebrating Durham’s County Championship success over Derbyshire. But come on, chaps, read the room – it was not even a fortnight ago that new captain Joe Root was telling his team to “be adults” after abandoning a curfew brought in after the Ashes.
Though this current crop of cricketers would be far from the first set of sportsmen to seek solace or celebration in a drink or two, the pattern here is one to cause concern. Clearly, it is tougher to keep a low profile in this age of near-constant social media surveillance; certainly when you are a strapping, six-foot-three fast bowler like Carse.
The latest incident is an unwelcome headache for new England captain Joe Root (PA Wire)
The profile of England’s squad has probably counted against them in some of the incidents, too, while their developing reputation creates something of a vicious circle. But it is surely fair to wonder if anyone is learning their lesson. One nightclub incident could perhaps be termed misfortune; three in such a short period not. These are not all callow adolescents, either. Would it be too much to ask that highly-paid professionals in their thirties not end up in these sort of environments with such regularity?
Both the England and Wales Cricket Board ( ECB ) and the Cricket Regulator continue their investigations. Internally, the handling of earlier incidents is understood to have caused some division. More broadly, though, there is a question about cricket’s relationship with alcohol.
Strolling into view in the background of the slightly grainy footage of a handcuffed Carse is Stokes, present after helping Durham to victory with a typically all-action showing with bat and ball. Asked recently about whether the England team from which he had retired had an issue with drinking, the former Test captain sought to turn the spotlight and scrutiny on the sport itself.
Ben Stokes retired from England duty in June (PA Wire)
“I think cricket has a drinking culture and that hasn’t changed,” Stokes said on the For the Love of Cricket podcast. “We are in 2026 now, where the game has gone more professional over the years, and one thing that has just stayed within cricket is its relationship with alcohol - from club cricket it works its way up. It has just stayed there and has been embedded within the sport.
“The relationship between alcohol and cricket is just something that hasn’t moved on as the game has become more professional. For people who think the English cricket team has a drinking culture, I would say no. I would just say cricket has a culture that is associated with alcohol.”
Anyone involved in cricket at just about any level will recognise Stokes’s comments. Recreationally, the two are intertwined; post-match pints, open clubhouse bars, alcohol-fuelled initiations. For a sport with so much involvement from communities that do not drink, more still needs to be done to find ways of divorcing cricket from alcohol.
Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse are Durham teammates (Robbie Stephenson/PA Wire)
In 2020, Essex captain Tom Westley apologised after squad member Feroze Khushi , a 21-year-old Muslim, had a beer poured on him while celebrating success in the Bob Willis Trophy on a balcony at Lord’s. Other, more concerning, stories from within club cricket followed. Long gone, maybe, are the days of David Boon wearing the 52 cans he allegedly drank on a flight from Sydney to London like a badge of honour, but even the end of James Anderson’s Test career was toasted with the seam bowler necking a pint of Guinness in front of a supporting throng of fans on the outfield.
At the professional level, scientists in sport are often surprised at how readily and regularly athletes will consume or glamourise alcohol. In elite environments, almost every element of a sportsperson’s life is micromanaged; every calorie counted, every physical effort measured . One nutritionist who has worked across a range of sports believes that the amount of drinking is lower than ever, yet still stands in contrast to development elsewhere.
“I am seeing a shift, and a trend [to limit alcohol],” the nutritionist explains. “The one thing we want them to do after a game is recover. Everything we provide for them after a game is anti-inflammatory so they can recover as quickly as possible. Alcohol is pro-inflammatory. It is poison that goes into the body. What I wouldn’t be doing is advocating going out having a beer, going and getting drunk. But the reality is these guys are human. I can’t sit there and say, ‘you are banned from having alcohol’.”
The England fast bowler Mark Wood is teetotal (Getty)
While one would not expect a sweeping band of teetotallers – and Mark Wood is one notable recent example – it is perhaps surprising that there are not more, given the lengths certain individuals will go to with the aim of ensuring peak performance. Stokes would not necessarily be an abstemious sort but stopped drinking during 2025 as he recovered from a hamstring injury ahead of the Ashes. It would be naive to think that all would wish to follow a similar lead but perhaps desperate times may call for d...
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