Cricket CorrespondentPublished6 minutes agoA punishment to "send a shiver down the whole team" may be needed after Brydon Carse became the latest England cricketer involved in a drinking controversy, according to Michael Vaughan.
Pace bowler Carse was briefly placed under arrest on a night out with his Durham team-mates in Derby at the weekend.
The incident is being investigated by the Cricket Regulator and, as a result, Carse has been removed from the England squad for the second Test against Pakistan at Lord's on Thursday.
"Someone is going to have to get a punishment that sends a shiver down the whole England cricket team and right down through the programme, so that everyone knows that if you misbehave or bring any kind of bad reputation on to this team, you know what's going to come," former England captain Vaughan told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"It's the only punishment that will really hurt players."
In October, England white-ball captain Harry Brook was punched by a bouncer outside a nightclub in Wellington, New Zealand, with team-mates Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue also present.
During the Ashes tour of Australia, opener Ben Duckett was filmed apparently drunk on England's holiday in Noosa.
And in June, former Test captain Ben Stokes and pace bowler Gus Atkinson broke a team curfew and were present when a member of England's security staff was punched by a Saracens rugby player in a London nightclub.
In this latest incident, Carse was with Durham team-mates Stokes and Matthew Potts, all of whom are under England central contracts. In Stokes' case, the England deal remains in place despite his international retirement in June.
It makes a total of eight contracted players who have been involved in or present for late-night incidents in the past year – more than a quarter of the 30 men on England deals.
In this latest occurrence, footage shared on social media on Sunday showed Carse in handcuffs, surrounded by police officers.
Listen to Vaughan, Tufnell and Finn discuss Carse incident on the TMS podcast
And, although Vaughan said it is an "awful look for the England team once again", he would "feel" for Carse if he is made an example of following the other events of the past year.
"I hope Carse is getting good support around him," said Vaughan. "He is a character who can be a little bit loose and if you give him a bit of rope he'll take a huge amount of it. He needs people around him who are giving him better advice.
"I would feel for Carse if he is the one who takes the rap for what has happened over the past nine months, but somewhere, somehow, something has to be done to set a precedent that they won't stand for that behaviour any more."
On Monday, the England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed that the Regulator was investigating and, as a result, 31-year-old Carse had been removed from the squad for the second Test, with his place going to Sonny Baker.
Soon after that, Derbyshire Police said a man in his 30s was arrested on Saturday night, only to be de-arrested a short time later.
"A man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly in Derby city centre on Saturday night, 22 August," said a police statement.
"However the man was de-arrested shortly afterwards having agreed to leave the area."
This new controversy comes only one game into Joe Root's second spell as Test captain.
Before his first game back in charge, an innings defeat of Pakistan at Headingley, Root called on his players to be "good role models and good human beings".
Now, Root will speak to the media on Tuesday to address the fallout from the Carse incident.
"Joe Root will be absolutely fuming with this," said Vaughan. "He will have been hoping to arrive at Lord's to talk about cricket and his team.
"Now he will have to answer all these questions about discipline, curfews and drinking culture.
"Everything we thought has been brushed under the carpet and moved to one side, we are pretty much back to square one."
Former England spinner Phil Tufnell agreed with Vaughan that a substantial punishment is the only way to ensure players fall in line.
Tufnell, who had multiple brushes with authority during his international career, said: "If you want to stop this, the only way you stop it is say: 'You're not playing for five games.'
"I was made to stand in the corner during my England career, was told: 'You're not available for selection.' It will soon stop. It would be cleared up in a jiffy."
Carse was in the England squad for the first Test but not selected in the final XI. It is unlikely he would have been in the team for the second Test at Lord's, unless one of England's four frontline seamers from Headingley suffered a fitness issue.
Since Carse made his Test debut in October 2024, no England bowler has more Test wickets than his 58. He was the only member of England's attack to play all five matches in the Ashes series in Australia.
However, he was unavailable at the beginning of the home summer because of an injury, and being removed from the squad for the second Test could push him further down the pecking order.
"Carse is 31 and coming to the autumn of his career," said Tufnell. "You need to keep yourself fit.
"You want to be bowling these long spells for England and making a name for yourself.
"It's probably best not to be doing that [going out so late]. Some of the best in the business have tried and failed at doing that."
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