England captain Joe Root has expressed his frustration after Brydon Carse was handcuffed by police outside a Derby nightclub on Saturday night. The fast bowler was celebrating a win for Durham over Derbyshire when mobile phone footage showed him being detained outside the venue.
Incident details
Teammate Matthew Potts was seen talking to the 31-year-old while ex-England skipper Ben Stokes, back playing for his county, is briefly seen in the background. The incident marks the latest in a series of off-field controversies involving England players.
It comes after Stokes and Gus Atkinson were stood down for a Test match following a nightclub incident earlier this summer. There were also late-night controversies last year involving Harry Brook, who was headbutted by a bouncer in New Zealand, and Ben Duckett who was recorded drunk during a trip to Noosa in the Ashes series.
Root's reaction
Upon replacing Stokes for his second stint as captain, Root spoke about his players being role models and shunned the need for a curfew. While Carse was not on England duty having been left out of the side for the first Test, he was due to come back into contention for the second match at Lord's starting on Thursday. But he has been stood down while Saturday's incident is investigated by the authorities.
“If I’m being brutally honest, I’m really hacked off, really disappointed,” Root said. “I’m really disappointed that after last week’s performance, we’re sat here and we’re talking about something nothing related to it at all.”
Investigation underway
The ECB have confirmed that they have launched an investigation. Root added: “In terms of the incident itself, it’s obviously with the regulator. There’s not a lot I can say on it. It’s in their hands now. I’ve spoken to Brydon – when I first found out, my first concern was him as a person, as someone I’ve spent a lot of time with in this dressing room.”
“You obviously develop personal relationships with players, and I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn by saying he’s very upset, he’s been very apologetic, and understands his actions. I’m sure when he gets his chance, he will say that himself.”
“It’s not the isolated incident itself. It’s the fact that we continually keep making stupid mistakes away from the game, and it’s detracting from what we’re doing on the field.”
