England’s cricketers could face alcohol ban with Stokes captaincy still in doubt

The England and Wales Cricket Board is considering imposing a complete ban on alcohol while players are on international duty. It is ­pondering the best response to the incident at a Chelsea nightclub that led to Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson being dropped for next week’s second Test against New Zealand and to the stream of embarrassing stories over the past eight months.

Rob Key, the ECB’s managing director of men’s cricket, admitted on Thursday it is hard to say the players can show they are to be trusted to behave responsibly. The two players broke a midnight curfew and were then ­allegedly involved in a fight that broke out in the early hours of Monday morning, though there is no suggestion that either were active participants.

“Everything we’ve looked at so far, everything we’ve found out, it looks like they were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Key said. “They weren’t aggressive and it looks like they were on the receiving end of some pretty poor behaviour from other people.”

The curfew was imposed after the Ashes and runs throughout this Test series. It is part of new player protocols the ECB says were communicated orally to the ­players on multiple occasions and more formally to the Team England Player Partnership, which is operated by the Professional Cricketers’ Association and negotiates “the scope and nature of the England players’ duties”.

Atkinson’s position is that he was unaware of the curfew, but Stokes had been deeply involved in the decision to impose one. Key said that on ­learning about the incident on Monday morning: “The ­overriding [reaction] was shock that it was Ben involved.”

Stokes’s future as captain and as a player remains uncertain. Asked about the 35-year-old’s ability to return to the side, Key said: “I don’t see why not.” When pressed about the captaincy he was less ­forthcoming. “We’ve got to run the investigation, find out what happened.

“The decision is about what’s best for the team and what’s best for Ben as well. It’s not just about what happened on Sunday night, it’s about the best thing moving forward. We need time because that’s a big decision.”

Stokes has been given time to consider his future, but the ECB has not sought to influence his decision.

During the Ashes, Key denied the England team had an unhealthy drinking culture, but that ­messaging has now changed. “Do we need to look at have the [regulations] been strict enough? Even when they win a game of cricket, is it now a time when there’s just no alcohol at any time and at any stage?” he said.

“I need to think through these things because I don’t want to make a rash decision that hinders the team and creates a situation where they don’t feel they can do anything. But the players now have to show the public they can be trusted. At this point it’s hard to say they can.

“We have spent a lot of time over the past few months trying to make sure we’re going to regain the trust [of the public]. I’m not sure we’ve done that. In fact, I know we haven’t done that with what’s happened here.

“All the things we have been ­working on, every single thing, whether it’s within the dressing room, within that side, all the work we’ve tried to do to reconnect the game, it feels like we’ve just been smashed in the face.

“When you look at what has ­happened it’s hard to defend anything that’s going on at the moment. I believe we are on the right path and that is really hard for me to be able to prove. We will be judged by our actions going forward.”

The decision to appoint Joe Root as interim Test captain in Stokes’s absence, rather than promote the vice-captain, Harry Brook, was taken for various reasons.

Brook’s own nightclub incident, when he was punched by a bouncer on the night before an ODI in New Zealand last November, was “not the main one”.

Key said Brook “has no issue ­whatsoever” with the decision. “There’s lots of different factors why we went for Joe Root, but ultimately, when English cricket’s in a hole Joe Root’s the man that we ask to dig us out of it.”

Key insisted this controversy should not detract from a period when “Ben has been outstanding” as a captain, while Brendon ­McCullum has “been outstanding in the way he’s led this side as a coach”.

“They are [one] of the most ­successful coach and captain ­partnerships we’ve had. This is one of the more successful England teams and that’s what I like to reflect on. And it’s not anywhere near the end of it.

“This team, with the bowling attack that looks like it’s in play in the next few years, can be one of the best we’ve had.”