Arabic version: إنجلترا تشدد إرشادات الكحول لمنتخب الرجال
England men’s players have been advised to avoid drinking alcohol on the day before and the day after matches under updated behaviour guidelines introduced by the national setup. A midnight curfew was confirmed on every day of a series at home or on tour after an Ashes campaign that included a number of off-field problems.
According to BBC News, the guidance recommends no alcohol be consumed on the day immediately before, during or the day immediately after a match, with the example given that if a Test runs the full five days the recommendation extends to the following day. The head coach and director of cricket, Brendon McCullum and Rob Key respectively, have discretion to relax the recommendations.
The policy clarifies that the measures are recommendations aimed at preparation, recovery and professionalism rather than absolute rules and apply only to players, not staff. If players choose to drink in the restricted period it should not be in public, and they have been strongly discouraged from drinking in private. Management retain the ability to permit exceptions, including celebrations or traditional end-of-series events.
Additional behavioural requirements were set out: players must inform team management or security if they are out of the hotel after 22:00, they cannot appear under the influence of alcohol in public, and they must not post on social media about alcohol-related activities. The curfew still applies when players leave the England camp during long gaps between matches or when released to their counties, subject to management discretion.
The curfew was first introduced to England’s white-ball teams in January for the Sri Lanka tour and subsequent T20 World Cup after a series of incidents, including Harry Brook being punched by a nightclub bouncer in Wellington with Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue present, and Ben Duckett being filmed, apparently drunk, on a mid-Ashes holiday in Noosa. In the summer build-up, Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were involved in a London nightclub incident after the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s, when a member of England security staff was struck by a Saracens rugby player. Stokes and Atkinson were made unavailable for the second Test pending an investigation, were later cleared of violent conduct but found to have breached specific contractual obligations, and were again made available for the third Test. Rob Key had suggested a total alcohol ban, which has not been enacted, and Brendon McCullum acknowledged ambiguity over the curfew would be clarified.
