Brydon Carse has been charged with improper conduct by the Cricket Regulator following events in Derby in August, with the England fast bowler’s case now set to be referred to the independent Cricket Discipline Panel.
The regulator said the charge concerned an alleged breach of regulation 3.2 of the ECB Professional Conduct Regulations in connection with events in the early hours of 23 August 2026. It said no further comment would be made while the process remained ongoing.
Carse has the opportunity to respond through the established procedure, according to the ECB. The governing body said it would not be appropriate to comment further because it did not wish to prejudge the outcome.
Charge follows Derby incident
Carse was arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly after a night out with Durham teammates following their County Championship win at Derbyshire, Sky Sports and the Guardian reported. He was subsequently de-arrested.
Footage later emerged on social media showing the 31-year-old in handcuffs, Sky Sports reported. Derbyshire Police later ended its investigation, while the Guardian reported that the case was closed without charges.
The Cricket Regulator’s action is separate from that police investigation. Its stated allegation concerns professional conduct regulation 3.2, which covers conduct considered improper, prejudicial to cricket’s interests or liable to bring the ECB, the game or cricketers into disrepute.
The regulator said the matter would be referred to the independent Cricket Discipline Panel for adjudication.
England selection remains a live issue
The incident had already affected Carse’s England involvement. He was dropped from the Test squad for the second and third matches of the Pakistan series in August, in the immediate aftermath of his arrest, the Guardian reported.
He was then not selected for England’s T20 and one-day international squads against Sri Lanka, nor for the tri-series in Pakistan this month. Those omissions came as England’s white-ball captain Harry Brook said last month that Carse needed time away from the international game.
Brook said he had spoken regularly with Carse but described those discussions as private. He said the bowler was working on matters away from the field and expressed hope that he would be ready to return at some stage.
England limited-overs coach Brendon McCullum also said Carse had been urged to make sound decisions away from cricket so that he could be the best version of himself. Test captain Joe Root said he was frustrated by alcohol-related incidents involving England players and reported that Carse was upset, apologetic and understood his actions.
Those comments predated the regulator’s charge and do not determine the disciplinary case. The ECB’s latest position was that Carse could answer the allegation through the formal process.
What happens next
The immediate confirmed next step is a referral to the independent Cricket Discipline Panel. The Guardian reported that Carse remains available for international selection, while Sky Sports said squad decisions would be made on a tour-by-tour basis.
That leaves Carse’s short-term international position unresolved. The Guardian reported that proceedings were unlikely to conclude before Stephen Fleming names England’s squad for the three-Test tour of South Africa in December, although neither the regulator nor the ECB gave a hearing date.
For England, the case therefore sits alongside future squad planning rather than providing a settled answer on Carse’s return. For Carse, the key development is that a police investigation has concluded, but a separate cricket disciplinary process is now formally under way.