ECB mulling player curfew following reports of heavy drinking, indiscipline in disastrous Ashes tour: Report

The Ben Stokes-led England team could be facing a curfew in the future following reports of binge drinking and questionable off-field conduct in Australia during their disastrous Ashes campaign. According to a report on The Times, the England and Wales Cricket Board is discussing the move ahead of England’s upcoming tour of Sri Lanka as well as the T20 World Cup that gets underway next month.

The ECB has launched a review into England’s underwhelming Ashes campaign, in which they managed to register a Test victory on Australian soil for the first time in 15 years but ended up losing by a 1-4 margin nevertheless.

And while the jobs of captain Stokes as well as those of head coach Brendon McCullum and Director of Cricket Rob Key reportedly appear to be safe, for now, the board is mulling “a player curfew, among other measures” for the future.

More from First Cricket

Exclusive | 'DC have good players but they have to find the perfect 12 and they have to deliver': Anjum Chopra Washington Sundar ruled out of remainder of India vs New Zealand ODI series due to rib injury

Stokes and his men have also come under the scanner for their conduct off the field, from heavy drinking to repeated casino visits and an overall lack of focus and discipline. Some members of the visitors’ camp reportedly spent six consecutive days drinking in Noosa, Queensland between the second and third Tests in Brisbane and Adelaide respectively in what many felt resembled a “stag do”.

Also Read | James Anderson blames Ben Stokes and ex-England teammates for Ashes horror

Vice-captain Harry Brook had also been involved in a heated altercation with a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand, where England had played six white-ball games before the Ashes. Details of the Brook incident only emerged after the conclusion of the Ashes last week, with the England white-ball captain apologising for the incident and later getting fined for the same.

Quick Reads

View All

'Won't require surgery...': Real reason behind Jasprit Bumrah's absence from 5th Test revealed in new report

PCB bans players from WCL over India-Pakistan match controversy

Not the first curfew for England

It will not be the first team England are put under a curfew – similar measures had been taken following a fiery clash between Jonny Bairstow and Australia’s Cameron Bancroft during the 2017-18 Ashes Down Under as well as Stokes’ infamous pub brawl in Bristol.

The curfew, however, was scrapped after Stokes and McCullum were appointed red-ball captain and head coach respectively in the summer of 2022.

England had surrendered the Ashes urn in just 11 days of play in the recent tour that began with an eight-wicket thrashing inside two days in Perth. Stokes and his men fought back in Melbourne, where they pulled off a four-wicket victory in another contest lasting just two days.

The Aussies, however, denied the visitors a happy conclusion to a turbulent tour by winning the New Year’s Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground by five wickets, thwarting yet another attempt by the ‘Old Enemy’ to regain the coveted urn that has been in their possession for eight years now.