The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is considering a major clampdown on player behaviour after fresh concerns emerged over binge drinking and a lack of discipline during England’s disastrous Ashes tour of Australia. According to a report in The Times, the board is weighing up the introduction of a strict curfew for players ahead of England’s upcoming white-ball tour of Sri Lanka and the T20 World Cup, which will be held from February 7 to March 8 across India and Sri Lanka.
England’s 4–1 Ashes defeat has triggered a full internal review, with team culture now firmly under the microscope. What has alarmed the ECB is not just the on-field failure, but the growing number of off-field incidents that have painted an uncomfortable picture of the squad’s behaviour during the tour.
Reports from Australia suggested that England’s campaign was marred by excessive drinking, repeated casino visits, and a general lack of professionalism away from the cricket field. One particularly damaging claim alleged that, between the second and third Tests in Brisbane, members of the touring party spent as many as six days drinking heavily, in scenes likened to a “stag do” rather than a professional international tour.
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Adding to the concerns, The Telegraph revealed that England’s squad stayed at Crown Towers, a luxury hotel located inside a major casino complex. Players were reportedly spotted regularly at gaming tables and hotel bars, often in full public view of fans and other guests, further fuelling criticism of their conduct.
England was considering a player curfew among other measures when the team left for a seven-week tour of the subcontinent on Sunday.
McCullum, the bloke who presided over all this is in denial. pic.twitter.com/y3To9tnwSc
— OBBY (@OBBY001) January 11, 2026
The problems are believed to have started even earlier. England’s white-ball tour of New Zealand has been cited as the point where discipline first began to slip, well before Ben Stokes led the team into the Ashes. Matters were made worse by reports that ODI captain Harry Brook had been involved in an altercation just weeks before the tour began.
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In response, the ECB is now discussing stricter controls, including curfews and closer supervision, as part of a broader cultural reset. Curfews are not new to English cricket. They were enforced during the 2017–18 Ashes after the Jonny Bairstow–Cameron Bancroft incident and again following Stokes’ Bristol nightclub brawl, though Stokes removed them after becoming captain in 2022.
England will play three ODIs and three T20Is in Sri Lanka from January 22 to February 3 before opening their T20 World Cup campaign on February 8 against Nepal in Mumbai — this time, potentially under much tighter rules.
