The last thing the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) needed was video emerging of Brydon Carse being led away from a Derby pub in handcuffs by police barely 24 hours after a restorative Test victory against Pakistan at Headingley.

Carse was released from England’s squad for the match in Leeds to play for Durham in their County Championship fixture at Derbyshire. After the visitors won, they went out celebrating.

But after months of off-field controversy involving England players and alcohol, the ECB must be tearing their hair out at this latest incident.

First, there was Harry Brook being punched by a Wellington bouncer the night before an ODI against New Zealand.

That was covered up by the ECB until it was leaked to the media at the end of a boozy Ashes tour that saw England’s players criticised for an alcohol-fuelled mini-break to the Queensland resort of Noosa after defeat in the second Test at Brisbane had put them 2-0 down in the series. Video emerged too of opener Ben Duckett on that trip seemingly drunk, lost and being ridiculed by England fans.

Then, this summer descended into chaos when Test captain Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were suspended for the second Test against New Zealand at The Oval for staying out past the team’s midnight curfew at Chelsea’s Rex Rooms, following the first Test win at Lord’s and Atkinson being the victim of aggression from Saracens rugby player Totoa Auvaa.

Stokes quit international cricket during the final match of the series at Trent Bridge amidst the fallout of that incident and the ECB’s hardline response to it.

Now, the new era under incoming captain Joe Root has now been sullied by the continued indiscipline of players – even if Carse wasn’t on England duty at the time.

Root scrapped the midnight curfew on taking the captaincy, saying on the eve of the Headingley Test: “Ultimately, we’ve got to self-police. We can’t find ourselves in situations like we have done over the last little while. Just be grown-ups about it.”

Yet the win in his first match back as captain – and the build-up to this week’s second at Lord’s – has been completely overshadowed by more off-field chaos.

So, what do we know about this latest incident? Here’s the latest…

What happened?

Video posted on social media on Sunday shows Carse being led away from a venue in Derby, thought to be Molly Malone’s Irish pub, by four police officers after an incident in the establishment. Matt Potts, his Durham and England team-mate, is seen trying to talk to police.

In another video, Carse is seen with a police officer and Stokes, who is still playing for Durham after retiring from international cricket.

There is no suggestion Stokes did anything wrong. No information has emerged about what led to the incident and although Carse was detained by police, he was not arrested.  

What are the ECB saying?

A statement from the governing body reads: “We are aware of an incident which is reported to have taken place in Derby last night, and are currently investigating. We will provide a further update when possible.”

The ECB has refused to comment further despite repeated inquiries from The i Paper.

This is in stark contrast to the tone they took when releasing information about Stokes and Atkinson’s night out in London back in June.

Is Carse still in the squad for Lord’s?

Despite stonewalling from the ECB, The i Paper understands Carse remains in the squad pending an investigation from the governing body into exactly what happened in Derby.

He will join up with his England teammates at Lord’s on Monday.

Whether or not Carse is pulled from the squad later in the week depends on what the ECB probe finds out.

Doesn’t he have previous?

Yes; in May 2024, Carse was banned from cricket for three months for historical breaches of ECB betting rules.

He accepted the decision for placing 303 bets on various cricket matches and returned to make his England debut on the winter tour of Pakistan later that year.

Carse was also seen during England’s tour of Australia dislodging several thousand dollars’ worth of notes from his pocket outside a Perth café the morning after the two-day defeat by Australia in the first Test.

England were based in the Crown hotel in Perth which also housed a casino, and many of England’s players were seen by travelling fans drinking late into the night at the venue.

What happens from here?

The ECB investigation that will surely make a swift decision on whether Carse remains in the squad for Lord’s – the second Test starts on Thursday – will be followed by an investigation by the Cricket Regulator to ascertain whether Carse has actually done anything wrong.

It’s worth remembering both Stokes and Atkinson were cleared of any wrongdoing by the regulator following their investigation into the Rex Rooms incident.

However, whatever happens, this is still a poor look for an England team that is seemingly unable to shake the spectre of off-field indiscipline amid accusations the players have fostered an unhealthy drinking culture over a number of years.