If you meet these players more than halfway, they do find themselves in a tough spot. So much about dealing with Test cricket is about getting away from it as best you can. And much of the game’s culture means alcohol is, awkwardly, a reliable crutch for this.
However, that does not excuse a maddening inability to have a normal night out. And the optics of Carse in handcuffs, along with confirmation from Derbyshire constabulary that “a man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly”, are arguably worse than any of the previous indiscretions. Optics that have only emerged because a member of the public happened to have the presence of mind to film, then circulate it to their friends before it had been affixed with WhatsApp’s “forwarded many times” tag by Sunday lunchtime.
“England cricketers used to have the best of both worlds; paid well to play a niche sport. The sweet spot was the early days of social media, by which time cricket in the UK had disappeared behind Sky’s paywall, resulting in fewer, if any, household names”
There is an opportunism here that is morally ambiguous, but not something England cricketers can be too pious about. The nature of their collective off-field exploits means it is open season when any of them are out in the wild. Even among their own fans.
In Australia, for instance, there were examples of players out and about getting grief from traveling supporters. Some of those fans were even furnishing English journalists with stories of players enjoying their time off too much, in their eyes.
That, ultimately, comes from losing. But it has now morphed into its own entity; a de facto currency of woe at England players’ expense. It’s worth noting the video of Carse in cuffs on the Telegraph‘s TikTok is approaching 600,000 views. There are views and clicks to be had.
With that comes a loss of the under-the-radar luxury of England’s modern-day international cricketers. For the longest time, they had the best of both worlds; paid well to play a niche sport (as far the UK landscape is concerned). The sweet spot was the early days of social media, by which time cricket had disappeared behind Sky’s paywall, resulting in fewer, if any, household names.
Many of the current generation benefited from that. Some players used to make up professions because it was easier than explaining they played cricket for a living. One current member of the Test squad used to tell people he was a pilot.
Perhaps they were a little too conditioned by this period. It speaks to why the Cricket Regulator and Professional Cricketers’ Association still spend much of their time educating players on behaviours in social settings, and the perils of digital media.
That thin veil of anonymity was torched in September 2017 after Stokes’ and Alex Hales’ involvement in a Bristol street fight, which first came to light via mobile phone footage from a student, who heard the commotion from his flat. A few weeks later, photos and videos emerged of Jos Buttler’s stag-do in Amsterdam, featuring fellow England cricketers Eoin Morgan (white-ball captain at the time), Steven Finn and Jack Leach hurling a dildo alongside a canal.
Stokes was eventually found not guilty of affray, but the offshoot of that was a midnight curfew after further issues during the 2017-18 Ashes, and a period of general anxiety when players went out and about. Soon, the designated breakout room in the team hotel became the safest haven to unwind, something Stokes took upon himself to make as comfortable and as fun as possible for his team-mates.
Now, the picture has been painted of pissheads who don’t know when to call it quits. Considering Carse’s arrest took place around 4am, when the venue was closing, maybe they have a point.
The collateral will be on England’s players, who will now all be wary of social environments, surveilled by everyone with a phone in their pocket. It is a paranoia you would not wish on anyone, but a damning insight into the distrust some of their own fans have in their ability, as Root put it, “to have a sensible beer”. And they have no one else but themselves to blame for that.
Vithushan Ehantharajah is an associate editor at Cricinfo
