BRYDON CARSE has been withdrawn from England’s squad for this week’s second Test against Pakistan, with the Cricket Regulator opening an investigation into the incident that saw him handcuffed outside a nightclub on Saturday night.
A video clip showing the fast bowler being detained by police on a night out in Derby emerged over the weekend, plunging the England and Wales Cricket Board straight back into yet another alcohol-related drama.
Carse was due to link up with his England team-mates in London this evening ahead of a training session at Lord’s on Tuesday, but the 31-year-old was stood down after the independent disciplinary body confirmed it would be looking into the episode.
A statement from the ECB read: “Following a referral from the ECB, the Cricket Regulator have confirmed that they will investigate events on Saturday night in Derby. Brydon Carse will no longer be available for selection for the Second Men’s Test Match while this investigation is ongoing and the full facts are obtained.”
Hampshire seamer Sonny Baker, who made his debut at Lord’s earlier this summer when Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were left out against New Zealand in similar circumstances, has been added to the squad as bowling cover.
The England team’s relationship with drinking has been in the spotlight for much of the last year and the latest episode comes just days after returning Test captain Joe Root abolished the midnight curfew.
In doing so he said players would need to “self-police” and urged them to be “really good role models and human beings.”
The curfew had come into place after a winter that saw several problematic incidents, including Harry Brook being struck by a nightclub bouncer in Wellington the night before captaining an ODI and a boozy mid-Ashes trip to Noosa that led to an unflattering social media video of an intoxicated Ben Duckett.
Stokes and Gus Atkinson were left out of the second Test of the summer against New Zealand after breaching “contractual obligations” during a celebratory night out following victory at Lord’s. An investigation concluded Atkinson had been subject to “unprovoked attacks” from a Saracens rugby player and the Cricket Regulator ruled the pair had no case to answer. Stokes returned for one more Test before retiring from England duty.



