England captain Joe Root says he is “really hacked off” and “really disappointed” after another off-field incident involving one of his players dragged the team's celebrated—and now scrutinized—drinking culture back under the spotlight.

Fast bowler Brydon Carse was pictured outside a nightclub in Derby in the early hours of Sunday in handcuffs and surrounded by police officers, after footage of the arrest circulated on social media. The 30-year-old was briefly arrested while out with Durham team-mates, including Ben Stokes and Matthew Potts, to celebrate the club's County Championship victory over Derbyshire, and has since been dropped from the England squad for the second Test against Pakistan.

Car-se was removed from the squad after being confirmed he “will no longer be available for selection” for the Lord's Test beginning Thursday (August 27), with Hampshire seamer Sonny Baker called up as his replacement. The England and Wales Cricket Board has referred the matter to the Cricket Regulator, whose investigation is continuing.

'A very good look,the whole pattern'

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday (August 25), days into his second stint as full-time Test captain, an visibly frustrated Root did not hide his frustration. “If I'm being brutally honest, I'm really hacked off. I'm really disappointed,” he said. “After last week's performance, we're sat here and we're talking about something that is not related to it at all.”

The England skipper was keen to stress the incident was not a one-off.“It's not the isolated incident itself,” he added. “It's the fact we continually keep making stupid mistakes away from the game and it's detracting from what we're doing on the field.”

Root said he had spoken to Carse, who did not feature in the XI that won the first Test against Pakistan by an innings and 103 runs before being released to Durham. / “When I first found out my main concern was him as a person,” Root said. “I don't think I'm speaking out of turn by saying he's very upset, very apologetic, and understands his actions.”

A pattern of Stupid Mistakes

The latest episode is particularly awkward for Root, who had scrapped the midnight curfew put in place following a string of controversies, insisting his players should be treated as responsible adults—just weeks before Carse's arrest. “Ultimately you're grown adults,” he had said. “You know what it takes to play for England, you know what your responsibilities are off the field, and we need to make sure we don't find ourselves with any little situations.”

Instead, the incidents have kept coming. The problems began making headlines during a white-ball tour of New Zealand in October last year, when white-ball captain And `Harry Brook` was struck by a bouncer after being denied entry to a club in Wellington, with Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue also present. Brook was later fined around £30,000 and given a final warning.

During the Ashes tour of Australia, Ben Duckett was filmed appearing disorientated in Noosa, telling people he could not remember how to get back to his hotel. “I am sorry for that incident, it was not professional and shouldn't have happened,” Duckett said. In June, Stokes and Gus Atkinson broke a team curfew in London and were present when a member of England's security staff was reportedly struck by a Saracens rugby player, leading to both being left out of the next Test. Stokes subsequently retired from international cricket, bringing Root back at the helm.

Alastair Cook and Michael Vaughan speak out

Former England captain Alastair Cook delivered a blunt assessment of the repeated lates.

“Just have some kind of brain cells amongst you, seeing what's just gone on,” Cook said on the Stick to Cricket podcast. “Surely someone says either don't go to that place, or at 12 a.m. or 1 a.m. say, 'Let's go and find ourselves somewhere quieter if we want to carry on.’”

Former captain Michael Vaughan went further, callsing for punishment severe enough to deter the entire build setup. “Someone is going to have to get a punishment that sends a shiver around 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,” Vaughan said. “It's the only punishment that will really hurt players.” Vaughan added that he would sympathise with Carse if he bore the brunt for a collective failing: “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 standard.”

Earning back the public trust

The incident puts into focus the England team's drinking culture, something Stokes had described as “embedded” in their cricketer. As one of the his first acts after reappointment, Root removed the midnight curfew, urging players to act as responsible adults. He admitted the recent past has not been “a good look” and said it is down to the players to earn back the trust of the public.

“It's our responsibility to change that. I see the dressing room every day and how we operate around cricket, and it's very impressive,” Root said. “But at the same time, I can understand why we are viewed in a certain way and in a certain light at the moment… I just think, if we don't put ourselves in certain situations, it's not something we will have to worry about.” The ECB, meanwhile, confirmed Carse's arrest after Britain's Press Association reported he was briefly taken into custody. The repeated incidents have reopened the central question of whether a highly professional sporting set-up needs clearer boundaries around how and where its players celebrate.