The first nine words from Joe Root summed up the mood perfectly after 48 hours of negative headlines following yet another off-field controversy involving an England player.
“If I’m being brutally honest, I’m really hacked off,” was the Test captain’s opener to an eagerly-anticipated press conference at Lord’s that was brought forward in response to Brydon Carse’s Saturday night out in Derby, which ended with him being led away in handcuffs by police outside a nightclub at 4am.
The events outside Molly Malone’s Irish Tavern, which took place barely 24 hours after Root opened his second spell as England captain with an innings win against Pakistan at Headingley, are now the subject of investigations by both the England & Wales Cricket Board and the Cricket Regulator.
“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,” Root continued. “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.”
Carse was a big part of England’s Ashes tour in the winter (Photo: Getty)The England career of Carse, dropped from the squad for this week’s second Test against Pakistan at Lord’s, is hanging by a thread. Even though this incident took place after Carse had played for Durham, he’s unlucky, or stupid, enough to be the eighth England player to have been caught up in off-field controversy over the past nine months.
And they’re just the incidents we know about.
It means more than a quarter of the 30 centrally-contracted England men’s players have hit the headlines over that period for their off-field behaviour. It’s a fact that led former England captain Michael Vaughan, speaking on the latest Stick to Cricket podcast, to burst out laughing, such is the ridiculousness of it all.
It’s worth noting that the latest Tailenders podcast, which includes England’s all-time leading wicket-taker James Anderson, is titled “Saving Britain’s nightclubs”.
“In 2025, over 400 nightclubs and late-night venues in the UK closed down but help is at hand in the form of the England men’s cricket team who appear to be on a mission to keep these establishments open,” reads the episode description.
Root’s England are already 1-0 up in the series against Pakistan (Photo: Getty)“Fair play for finding a nightclub in Derby that’s worth staying in,” was Anderson’s deadpan take.
It is within this context – his team becoming the punchline to endless jokes – that Root was forced to face the media at Lord’s.
He was not happy. Indeed, this was the angriest I have ever seen Root – and I’ve covered hundreds of press conferences and media interactions with him since his Test debut at Nagpur in 2012.
Usually calm and measured, he cut a frustrated figure who while at pains to offer supportive words to Carse, was also in no mood to soft-soap the issue at hand. “In the recent past, I don’t think it’s been a very good look if I’m being brutally honest, at all,” he said.
“Clearly we are not portraying ourselves how we want to. Don’t worry, the players are very clear of what is expected of them and how we need to go about things moving forward.
“We’ve had a very robust discussion about where we currently sit, and I think there’s real clarity there. As players, you get judged on the decisions you make on the field and also off it too, and that’s the world that we live in.”
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Chris Stocks: English cricket has become a boozy joke – and not a funny one Jonathan Agnew: The day I saw Mother Teresa lose her ragWhat made the Carse situation worse was that footage of him being handcuffed by police – shortly before he was arrested and then de-arrested and released – was filmed by a bystander and then circulated online.
In an age where phones can instantly turn every misstep into a meme, Root added: “I just think if we don’t put ourselves in certain situations, it’s not something we have to worry about. Clearly the landscape is very different now. And not every picture tells the truth. But at the same time it’s understanding the impact that could have, not just on yourselves.
“And this isn’t about individuals. This is about us collectively looking after each other, looking after the dressing room, looking after our environment and looking out for each other.”
What makes this worse for Root is the fact he scrapped the short-lived midnight curfew and became the subject of much debate when Ben Stokes, his predecessor as Test captain, and Gus Atkinson, went out beyond it after the win against New Zealand at Lord’s in the first Test of the summer back in June.
Root has spoken to Stokes, Carse and incoming coach Stephen Fleming in the days since Derby.
“I’m not trying to sit here and ask people to be saints,” he said. “Everyone’s going to make mistakes at the odd time. But it’s understanding what’s expected of England players.”
If that message wasn’t clear before, it certainly is now.
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