English Cricket Thread

[sussexpob]

Brydon Carse is the latest England player to get himself into bother while having a drink, as a video emerges of him handcuffed outside a nightclub after getting into a scuffle, with his Durham team-mates (Potts and Stokes) also in shot but not apparently involved.

I don't want to hear anymore rubbish about cricket being a drinkers sport again, this has gone too far. The ECB need to rip up his central contract and send him back to the Riverside permanently.

Why do I get the feeling this will end with Rob Key telling us why this is bad, and nothing getting done again.

[Slipstream]

Brydon Carse is the latest England player to get himself into bother while having a drink, as a video emerges of him handcuffed outside a nightclub after getting into a scuffle, with his Durham team-mates (Potts and Stokes) also in shot but not apparently involved.

I don't want to hear anymore rubbish about cricket being a drinkers sport again, this has gone too far. The ECB need to rip up his central contract and send him back to the Riverside permanently.

Why do I get the feeling this will end with Rob Key telling us why this is bad, and nothing getting done again.

Agree.

[Arthur Crabtree]

They didn't do this to Stokes or Brook. There's a danger of just punishing peripheral players.

A suspension while the staff works on addiction/anger issues is another way.

[sussexpob]

Indeed, I said the same on the Durham guys thread. After covering up Brook's bounced wars, and giving the other two only 1 game suspension, they have boxed themselves into a soft precedent. One would be inclined to think any disproportionate punishment to the others would be torn apart by Carse's legal team at any disciplinary hearing.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Wonder what Robinson thinks. He lost a couple of years of international cricket, apparently partly due to a lack of discipline...

[andy]

There eventually does need to be a line in the sand shock through the system punishment otherwise it will just keep happening yes they should have done it sooner but it needs to happen now otherwise what's the point...

[sussexpob]

There eventually does need to be a line in the sand shock through the system punishment otherwise it will just keep happening yes they should have done it sooner but it needs to happen now otherwise what's the point...

You can't implement such a punishment retroactively, otherwise you make yourself open to legal action (rightfully) in return. The ECB had ample opportunity to set a "line in the sand" multiple times recently, they chose not to do it and have to live with that decision. Trust me, I agree I would in many ways want to see it, but the question about equity in decision making is also very important on a human level. You can't not punish/lightly punish some people, then decide on a whim that the same actions are worthy of bigger punishments. Unless that change was made before the incident, you are very much deciding the same actions are worthy or more punishment using the same rules and process - which, by absolute definition, is treating one person more unfairly, which in turn has no legal justification.

I mean, could you imagine going to court for assault and the judge saying "you know what, I have done 7 common assaults today and this is all getting very tiring, I sentence you to life imprisonment for slapping your neighbour"...

[sussexpob]

Wonder what Robinson thinks. He lost a couple of years of international cricket, apparently partly due to a lack of discipline...

Judging on his recent interviews, he isn't stirring up the pot because he knows performances haven't exactly saved him from the axe before. He said for instance that he might not have been ready to play in the Ashes anyway a couple of weeks ago when asked about it, so he's keeping his powder dry.

[alfie]

They don't need to do anything dramatic about Carse (like rip up his contract) In any case I am not going to go on about what he actually did because I wasn't there to see it.

But assuming he's been a right goose rather than just unlucky to be wrong place wrong time , and this at least potentially could have impacted his duties to the Test squad , then he can't complain if he's moved down the pecking order as a consequence. As he probably will be ...I think he'll get the hint.

All the bad publicity around these incidents is annoying. And yes it would be nice if they all kept out of trouble at all times. But quite frankly a lot of the fuss is a bit overdone. Yes Brook was way out of order in NZ - particularly because it was the night before a match. But the Atkinson "incident" was apparently none of his fault and only attracted attention because of the silly curfew business. Players drinking in a break during the recent Ashes ? Like that has never happened before ... just a pity Duckett added a miserable run of form to being caught on camera the worse for wear in Noosa... A fair argument that drinking that affects your performance should lead to a temporary axe ? Treat each case on merits and no need for any draconian action.

I suspect because of all this negative publicity this current group are going to be a bit more careful where and when they party for a while. But unfortunately there are those among the general public who are sometimes going to cause trouble for off duty cricketers so no guarantees can be had that we will never see "bad" headlines again.

At least no one is getting involved in a scandal like the footballers here in Australia being investigated for sexual assaults on their hired lap dancers a few days before their club commenced their campaign in the finals !

[sussexpob]

All the bad publicity around these incidents is annoying. And yes it would be nice if they all kept out of trouble at all times. But quite frankly a lot of the fuss is a bit overdone. Yes Brook was way out of order in NZ - particularly because it was the night before a match. But the Atkinson "incident" was apparently none of his fault and only attracted attention because of the silly curfew business. Players drinking in a break during the recent Ashes ? Like that has never happened before ... just a pity Duckett added a miserable run of form to being caught on camera the worse for wear in Noosa... A fair argument that drinking that affects your performance should lead to a temporary axe ? Treat each case on merits and no need for any draconian action

Look, I agree with the fact that the odd drink should not result in wanton punishments, and I also agree that the players should not be strung up for going to a bar and being the victims of other people's idiocy. Nevertheless, at some point a stand has to be made on the behaviour of the team in general, with examples piling up all over the place. Their preparations were heavily criticised in the last big series we played, and with a long list of infractions happening in parallel to a general attitude pre-game to not train as hard as they maybe could have, this is a concern. The Ashes sounded at stages like it was an 18-30 lads holiday, not an elite sporting unit going on the hardest tour possible and ensuring they were ready to be at their best.

I think its also concerning that we get Stokes saying its all part of the culture. This is nonsense really, I don't care what village guys do because they aren't being pad over a million quid a year to be at the top of their games. England is an elite sporting unit, and should act and prepare like one. There can be no excuses about generic culture in lower parts of the game, and players are adults, if they go back to their counties then they still should set an example. By all means, have a post match drink, just don't then get into an argument about a spilled drink and end with handcuffs on being filmed by people in the public.

Ian Botham was on Stick to Cricket, and he of course said they always had a drink - but in low key places. Go to the local, have 10 beers in the dressing room etc, be incognito. I guess this is the issue, because in Australia they were not incognito, they were on the beach or wandering around a small town full of press not really hiding it. Carse for instance apparently turned up to a cafe with an obscene amount of cash in his pocket that he then deposited on the floor and had everyone on the terrace chasing after banknotes.... this sort of flash guy stuff attracts attention, and attention attracts trouble.

[bigfluffylemon]

KP joins the England white ball coaching set-up as a 'specialist mentor'.

I definitely did not see that coming. Thought the ECB had burned all their bridges with him a long time ago.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I remember them offering him that job as encouragement for accepting his treatment after the mitchwash.

[andy]

Glad to see the appointment can't believe it's taken this long!

[Arthur Crabtree]

Squads for series v SL, weather permitting.

T20 squad:

Jofra Archer (Sussex), Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Sonny Baker (Hampshire), Tom Banton (Somerset), Harry Brook (Yorkshire – captain), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), James Coles (Sussex), Jordan Cox (Essex), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Aneurin Donald (Derbyshire), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Jamie Overton (Surrey), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire)

ODI squad:

Harry Brook (Yorkshire – captain), Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Tom Banton (Somerset), Sonny Baker (Hampshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Jordan Cox (Essex), Henry Crocombe (Sussex), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Jamie Overton (Surrey), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire)

So no Carse. Donald and Crocombe are new. Coles must be fairly new. No Salt or Bethell.

[alfie]

KP joins the England white ball coaching set-up as a 'specialist mentor'.

I definitely did not see that coming. Thought the ECB had burned all their bridges with him a long time ago.

Will be interesting to see how this appointment works out. Might be a good fit (probably more so than the Test group) : though there is some risk that he and McCullum could fail to see eye to eye... Overall I am quite hopeful it will be a successful move