England have banned all centrally-contracted players who were involved in last winter’s Ashes series from speaking to the media.
The highly unusual move comes amid uncertainty over the future of coach Brendon McCullum following last winter’s 4-1 series defeat in Australia and a string of off-field controversies, including Harry Brook being struck by a bouncer on the eve of an ODI against New Zealand in Wellington last October.
The i Paper can reveal the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) sent out a memo to counties on Thursday telling them to pull all pre-arranged media interviews with players who were in Australia over the winter.
All 18 counties will hold their pre-season media days in the next few weeks, with 11 of the Ashes squad who are not involved in the Indian Premier League initially being made available to reporters and TV networks.
Questions about Brendon McCullum’s future would inevitably be asked (Photo: Getty)However, the edict from the ECB now means those players – captain Ben Stokes, Gus Atkinson, Brook, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Mark Wood and Shoaib Bashir – have been effectively gagged before they join up ahead of the first Test of the summer against New Zealand at Lord’s in June.
The i Paper were made aware of this when an interview with Bashir, arranged through his county Derbyshire, was cancelled.
The spinner did not play any of the five Tests in Australia despite going into the series as England’s No 1 slow-bowling option.
His move to Derbyshire over the winter is an opportunity to rebuild his career following a frustrating winter when he was also released by Somerset.
It is perhaps understandable England would want to stop Bashir, who has a one-year deal that runs until the end of September, from speaking publicly.
Shoaib Bashir (right) endured a difficult winter with England in Australia (Photo: Getty)But the blanket ban on all England players talking at county media days is almost unprecedented, with clubs keen to make their highest-profile players available to speak in order to help ramp up publicity and interest ahead of the new season.
The gagging order on England players at county media days came on the same day as the men’s Hundred auction, when a multitude of star names were made available for interview in a bid to drum up publicity for the divisive competition that many fans believe is destroying the very fabric of the county game.
When queried by The i Paper, the ECB confirmed the blanket ban on all Ashes participants speaking ahead of the start of the summer, with one source admitting it was an attempt to “control the message”, adding: “They are our players so they’ll speak when on England duty.”
While heavy-handed, the move may make sense for an under-fire ECB given that it is now understood that there will not be any public release of the much-heralded Ashes review and that McCullum now seems set to remain in his role as coach despite overseeing the shambolic tour of Australia that was scarred by bad planning, decision-making and questionable off-field behaviour.
The Ashes review was revealed by ECB chief executive Richard Gould back in January within minutes of the conclusion of the final Test in Sydney.
“A thorough review of the campaign is already underway,” said Gould. “This will cover tour planning and preparation, individual performance and behaviours, and our ability to adapt and respond effectively as circumstances require.”
Yet it now seems there will be no formal public acknowledgment of the findings of the review other than an expected media opportunity with England’s director of cricket Rob Key later this month.
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