Curbing boozy antics has England stumped

It was a telling remark, especially when revisited two months later.

"I probably won't be real happy and smiley," then-England cricket captain Ben Stokes told reporters after beating New Zealand in a hard-fought test match at Lord's in June, "until I get up there and share a proper beer with the boys."

After all, having a post-match drink with teammates, and sometimes rivals, in the dressing room is a cricketing tradition as old as time.

But is English cricket taking it to the extreme?

The off-field conduct and drinking habits of England's men's squad are back under scrutiny this week after another after-hours incident involving one of its players.

This time it was Brydon Carse, a 31-year-old fast bowler and one of the team's success stories in recent years. The images of him outside a bar in the early hours of Sunday in handcuffs and surrounded by police officers were hard to ignore, especially as the saga came days after a plea by newly appointed England captain Joe Root.

"Ultimately you're grown adults," said Root, speaking after England's leadership opted to scrap a midnight curfew that had been imposed on the men's team following a string of controversial late-night incidents.

"You know what it takes to play for England, you know what your responsibilities are off the field, and we need to make sure we don't find ourselves with any little situations off the field."

Seems the message didn't get across to his players.

"If I'm being brutally honest, I'm really hacked off. I'm really disappointed," Root said in a news conference on Tuesday.

"It's not the isolated incident itself," Root added. "It's the fact we continually keep making stupid mistakes away from the game and it's detracting from what we're doing on the field."

And so, with England's Cricket Regulator getting down to work investigating another off-the-field issue, it's back to square one.

Is it time for a cultural reset? In this age of sports science and ultra-professionalism, there are wider questions over whether cricketers should have a beer after a match. Or do players just need to be a bit smarter?

"Just have some kind of brain cells amongst you, seeing what's just gone on," former England captain Alastair Cook said on the Stick to Cricket podcast on Tuesday.

"Surely someone says either don't go to that place. Or, at 12 am or 1 am, say: 'Let's go and find ourselves somewhere quieter if we want to carry on'."

Here's a look at the late-night incidents that have brought shame on English cricket:

Brook struck by a bouncer

Before going to Australia for what proved a humiliating Ashes series in December, England traveled to New Zealand in October for a white-ball tour (a series of limited-overs internationals).

A day before the third and final one-day match, team captain Harry Brook was hit by a doorman after being denied entry to a club in Wellington. Teammates Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue were also present on the night out.

Brook was fined about 30,000 pounds ($40,300) at the time and given a final warning about his future conduct — sanctions not made public until months after England's 4-1 Ashes series loss.

"I want to apologize for my actions," Brook said.

"I fully accept that my behavior was wrong and brought embarrassment to both myself and the England team."

Duckett's night in Noosa

Between the second and third tests in that Ashes series, England visited the resort town of Noosa on the Sunshine Coast for some downtime in the midst of its long tour.

While there, footage was taken of England opening batter Ben Duckett looking disorientated as he talked to a group of people on a night out and saying he was unable to remember how to get back to his hotel.

"I am sorry for that incident, it was not professional and shouldn't have happened," Duckett later said. "There is no hiding away from it."

Rob Key, England managing director of men's cricket, said he would investigate the drinking habits of the England team.

Post-Lord's revelry

Chastened by the Ashes hammering in the winter, England began its so-called "reset" with a home series against New Zealand in June.

After winning the first test, Stokes and fast bowler Gus Atkinson continued their post-match celebrations at Lord's by going on a night out in London, during which a member of England's security staff was reportedly struck by a player from English rugby club Saracens.

The fallout was huge: Stokes and Atkinson were left out of the second test amid an investigation that ultimately found that no "regulatory breach" had occurred. Stokes then returned for the third match, only to announce his retirement from international cricket midway through it, saying the past few months had "taken its toll".

Brendon McCullum then was fired as test coach, while Key said the England and Wales Cricket Board was considering imposing an alcohol ban on the team.

Carse hits sticky wicket

Strictly speaking, Carse's night out wasn't while he was on England duty.

It came after his club side Durham had completed a big win over Derbyshire in the domestic County Championship on Saturday.

Carse was among the players selected in the England squad for the first test against Pakistan last week, but wasn't picked to play in the match and was released to feature for Durham.

Ahead of his ill-fated night out, Carse had been retained in England's squad for the second test starting Thursday.

He was dropped on Monday because an investigation was ongoing into the incident, which saw Carse held in handcuffs by police after, according to Britain's Press Association, being briefly arrested.

England bowler Matthew Potts was with Carse on the night out, while footage that circulated on social media showed Stokes watching on as Carse was in handcuffs.

With Carse yet to comment on the incident, it was left to Root to say that his teammate is "very upset, has been very apologetic, and understands his actions".

"I don't think it has been a very good look, the recent past, if I'm being brutally honest," Root said. "At all."