England’s Brydon Carse dropped over nightclub police incident – what we know

Brydon Carse has been dropped from England’s squad for this week’s second Test against Pakistan at Lord’s after the incident he was involved in outside a Derby night spot was referred to the Cricket Regulator. The last thing the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) needed was video emerging of Carse being led away from a Derby pub in handcuffs by police barely 24 hours after a restorative Test victory against Pakistan at Headingley. Carse was released from England’s squad for the match in Leeds to play for Durham in their County Championship fixture at Derbyshire. After the visitors won, they went out celebrating. But after months of off-field controversy involving England players and alcohol, the ECB must be tearing their hair out at this latest incident. First, there was Harry Brook being punched by a Wellington bouncer the night before an ODI against New Zealand. That was covered up by the ECB until it was leaked to the media at the end of a boozy Ashes tour that saw England’s players criticised for an alcohol-fuelled mini-break to the Queensland resort of Noosa after defeat in the second Test at Brisbane had put them 2-0 down in the series. Video emerged too of opener Ben Duckett on that trip seemingly drunk, lost and being ridiculed by England fans. Then, this summer descended into chaos when Test captain Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were suspended for the second Test against New Zealand at The Oval for staying out past the team’s midnight curfew at Chelsea’s Rex Rooms, following the first Test win at Lord’s. Stokes quit international cricket soon after amid the fallout of that incident and the ECB’s hardline response to it. Now, the new era under incoming captain Joe Root has been sullied by the continued indiscipline of players – even if Carse wasn’t on England duty at the time. Root scrapped the midnight curfew on taking the captaincy, saying on the eve of the Headingley Test: “Ultimately, we’ve got to self-police. We can’t find ourselves in situations like we have done over the last little while. Just be grown-ups about it.” Yet the win in his first match back as captain – and the build-up to this week’s second at Lord’s – has been completely overshadowed by more off-field chaos. So, what do we know about this latest incident? Here’s the latest… What happened? Video posted on social media on Sunday shows Carse being led away from a venue in Derby, thought to be Molly Malone’s Irish pub, by four police officers after an incident in the establishment. Matt Potts, his Durham and England teammate, is seen trying to talk to police. Durham bowler Brydon Carse, who is in England squad for second Test, was released without charge after a nightclub incident while celebrating victory over Derbyshire@willis_macp has the details https://t.co/4YXyQWChe5 pic.twitter.com/zFKA3lgPVi— Telegraph Cricket (@TeleCricket) August 23, 2026 In another video, Carse is seen with a police officer and Stokes, who is still playing for Durham after retiring from international cricket. There is no suggestion Stokes did anything wrong. No information has emerged about what led to the incident and although according to the Daily Mail, Carse was initially arrested by police on suspicion of drunk and disorderly, before being de-arrested shortly afterwards. What are the ECB saying? A statement from the governing body reads: “We are aware of an incident which is reported to have taken place in Derby last night, and are currently investigating. We will provide a further update when possible.” They issued an update on Monday confirming Carse will not join up with the rest of the squad at Lord’s this week. “Following a referral from the ECB, the Cricket Regulator have confirmed that they will investigate events on Saturday night in Derby,” it said. “Brydon Carse will no longer be available for selection for the Second Test while this investigation is ongoing and the full facts are obtained. Brydon will be replaced in the squad for this match by Sonny Baker.” Is anybody else being investigated? At this stage it doesn’t seem so. Potts, who has a one-year England central contract, was seen on the video but the ECB have not said he is being investigated. The i Paper has asked for confirmation from the ECB about this at the time of publication had not heard back. Carse has played 14 Tests for England, and was part of last winter’s Ashes tour (Photo: Getty) There is also a question about Stokes. Is he still an ECB employee given he had a two-year central contract when he quit international cricket in June? Is he also being investigated? There is no suggestion he has done anything wrong. Again, The i Paper has asked the ECB about both these points but had not heard back by the time of publication. What happens from here? Now the matter has been referred to the Cricket Regulator, we wait for a verdict on what actually happened and whether Carse has breached any of the terms of his ECB contract. There will also be an ECB probe into events and he could be sanctioned separately regardless of the Regulator’s findings. In June, both Stokes and Atkinson were cleared by the Regulator, who said there was “insufficient evidence” that the pair had breached the team’s midnight curfew. The ECB said they were not to blame for the incident in the Rex Rooms but did say they were issued with written warnings for contravening “specific contractual obligations” around being seen out late at night drinking. The regulator took a fortnight to get to a decision on Stokes and Atkinson so expect a similar timeline here.