ECB to impose stricter rules to curb players' misconduct

Hardly days after the infamous Ben Stokes’ infamous brawl at Bristol, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has imposed stricter laws regarding player’s behaviour. The Director Cricket at ECB, Andrew Strauss, stressed on giving responsibility to their cricketers both on and off the field but according to sources, players have been instructed with strict messages for their behaviour and self-conduct.

The English cricketers’ public activities are now under observation more than ever. It is known that the captain of the England side Joe Root and seam bowler Stuart Broad have apparently distanced themselves from Jos Buttler’s weekend stag party in Amsterdam.

The trio of Buttler, Broad and Root share the same agent and are said to be close friends. Therefore, the ECB Director Andrew Strauss has given the third degree to some of the players to withdraw from the stag event in Amsterdam in order to prevent a fragile situation escalating out of hand.

Hales and Stokes stand up for a gay couple being abused

That said, both Alex Hales and Ben Stokes are already out of consideration for the upcoming tour of Netherlands and selection for the English team as they continue to be investigated by the police. The duo hogged all the limelight with their recent late night brawl outside a pub in Bristol.

The tiff occurred at 2.30 am on September 25. The circumstances which led to the brawl still remains unknown but according to Cricbuzz, both Stokes and Hales were provoked and the pair got into an argument while trying to help out a gay couple from being abused.

ECB will hope, one way or another, that the matters are put to rest soon and the focus shifts back to cricket soon. They can only wait for the investigation to be completed by the police, but they have initiated steps to ensure there is no repeat in the future.