Joe Root criticises England's off-field mistakes after Carse incident

England captain Joe Root has criticised the repeated off-field mistakes that he says are diverting attention from the team's cricket after an incident involving fast bowler Brydon Carse. BBC Sport reported that Carse was dropped from England's squad for the second Test against Pakistan, which starts at Lord's on Thursday.

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Images posted on social media on Sunday showed the 31-year-old Carse in handcuffs outside a bar in Derby on Saturday night. According to the BBC, he was briefly arrested and then de-arrested. The England and Wales Cricket Board has referred the incident to the Cricket Regulator.

Carse was not with the England team when the incident occurred because he had been released to play for Durham. He is, however, an ECB centrally contracted player. England replaced him in the Test squad with fast bowler Sonny Baker ahead of the match at Lord's.

Root addressed the matter at the start of a news conference and said he was both disappointed and frustrated. He said the team should have been discussing its performance from the previous week rather than an unrelated incident away from the field. His comments focused not only on what happened in Derby but on the recurrence of off-field problems that can distract from England's work in matches.

The captain also confirmed that he had spoken with Carse after learning about the incident. Root said his first concern was for Carse personally and described his teammate as upset and apologetic. He added that Carse understands his actions, while leaving Carse to speak for himself when he has an opportunity to do so.

The immediate cricket consequence is Carse's absence from the second Test squad and Baker's call-up as his replacement. Any further outcome remains uncertain because the regulator referral is still part of the process. Root's public response makes clear that England's leadership views the wider pattern of off-field mistakes as a problem, but neither the ECB nor the Cricket Regulator had announced a final disciplinary decision in the BBC's report.