England men’s team director of cricket Rob Key stated that he’s considering a total alcohol ban after the recent nightclub incident involving England Test captain Ben Stokes and pacer Gus Atkinson. He also added that there will be no rash decisions taken when it comes to England Test captaincy.
Stokes and Atkinson were reportedly involved in a brawl in a Chelsea nightclub with a rugby player, which ended up with an ECB security team official getting stitches. The ECB is investigating the matter and has dropped both Stokes and Atkinson from the England squad for the upcoming second Test against New Zealand.
"I'm trying to give myself a bit of time. I had that sinking feeling when I found out that you just can't speak for a few minutes, and then you've got to start. Then a range of emotions where I was incredibly angry, and still am. Same with Brendon [McCullum, the head coach],” Key told media, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Key had disputed that the squad had a drinking culture after enforcing a midnight curfew on the players in January of this year, but he is now thinking of tightening the regulations even further.
“Do we need to look at, actually, whether they [the rules] have 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? 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,” Key added.
Key expressed his "shock" at Stokes' role in the late-night incident and stated that Stokes' future as Test captain has not yet been decided, preferring to let the probe proceed. Key was unsure when asked if Stokes could lead the England Test team once more.
“The overriding [emotion] was shock that it was Ben involved in this. We've got to run the investigation and find out what exactly happened. I think 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. I think the first thing you think when you hear this is there's a hell of a lot of anger, and I'm not sure I'm over that as yet.
And you don't want to make decisions when you're feeling like that. But I also have a huge amount of concern for Ben. At the moment, everything that we're speaking to him about, he seems fine with. But for the moment, we let the process play out and don't make any rushed decisions. And we mean that for him as well as anything. There's no need to rush to anything,” Key stated.
A day after England announced a Joe Root-led side for the second Test at The Oval, Key reaffirmed that the wisest course of action was to keep Stokes and Atkinson out of the match while the investigation was ongoing.
Additionally, Key explained why Root was chosen as the temporary captain rather than Harry Brook, the white-ball captain.
"We just thought this was too big a job at this stage for Harry to take on. Ultimately, when English cricket's in a hole, Joe Root is the man that we ask to dig us out of it. Whether that's on the field or off the field. We're incredibly lucky to have him. And when I spoke to him about whether he would consider this, he didn't hesitate.
There are lots of [other] different reasons for it. We're going to be close to selecting a white ball team for what's a massive series against India, T20 cricket, and ODI cricket. So Harry, as well as what's happened in the past, has a huge amount on his plate, and we don't want to burden him with that, having to deal with everything,” he added.
(Cricbuzz inputs)
