Rob Key considers alcohol ban; no decision yet on Stokes' captaincy

Rob Key, Director of Cricket of the England men's team, said he's considering a complete alcohol ban following the nightclub incident involving Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson, but assured no "rash decisions" will be made "in anger", be it on team culture or England captaincy.

Speaking at the Oval on Thursday, Key opened up for the first time on the matter. "I had that sinking feeling when I found out where you just can't speak for a few minutes, then you've got to start," Key said. "Then a range of emotions where I was incredibly angry, still am. Same with Brendon [McCullum]."

Having imposed a midnight curfew in January earlier this year, Key had denied a drinking culture in the team, but now he's considering stricter rules.

"Do we need to look at, actually, have they [the rules] been strict enough?" Key said. "Even when they win a game of cricket, is it now a time when there's just no alcohol at any time and at any stage? I need to think through these things because I don't want to make a rash decision that hinders the team and creates a situation where they don't feel they can do anything. But the players now have to show the public they can be trusted. At this point it's hard to say they can."

Key revealed his "shock" at Stokes' involvement and said no decision has been made on Stokes' future as Test captain, wanting the process to play out as the investigation continues. Asked if we'll see Stokes playing Test cricket again, Key said: "I don't see why not". But when asked whether Stokes can captain the Test side again, Key was non-committal.

"The overriding [emotion] was shock that it was Ben involved in this," Key said.

"We've got to run the investigation, find out what happened exactly. I think the decision is about what's best for the team and what's best for Ben as well. It's not just about what happened on Sunday night, it's about the best thing moving forward. We need time, because that's a big decision.

"I think the first thing you think when you hear this is there's a hell of a lot of anger and I'm not sure I'm over that as yet," Key said. "And you don't want to make decisions when you're feeling like that.

"But I also have a huge amount of concern for Ben. At the moment, everything that we're speaking to him about, he seems like he's fine. But for the moment we let the process play out, don't make any rushed decisions. And we mean that for him as well as much as anything. There's no need to rush to anything."

Key revealed that Atkinson wasn't aware of the curfew, and that the fast bowler and Stokes weren't the aggressors in the nightclub altercation following England's win over New Zealand in the Lord's Test. The breach was particularly awkward because the curfew had been introduced as part of efforts led by Key, Stokes and McCullum to improve standards and rebuild trust.

"A number of players after that (Test) went out into a pub in London where we believe they were well behaved. All but two of those got back in time for the new protocols," Key said. "Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson went out to a nightclub where, it's a case where I believe that they're in the wrong place at the wrong time, got in an altercation where everything that we've looked at so far – clearly the investigation is ongoing – they weren't the aggressors in that but they were somewhere they shouldn't have been at a time they shouldn't have been out."

Key spoke about how Stokes, McCullum and he spent a good part of the last three months working out how to set better standards, and a diversion of this kind was the "most frustrating thing", but stressed the England team hadn't become a "national embarrassment".

"We have spent a lot of time over the past few months trying to make sure we're going to regain the [fans'] trust," Key said. "I'm not sure we've done that. In fact, I know we haven't done that with what's happened here. All the things we have been working on, every single thing, whether it's within the dressing-room, within that side, all the work we've tried to do to reconnect the game, it feels like we've just been smashed in the face with that. When you look at what has happened it's hard to defend anything that's going on at the moment. I believe that we are on the right path, and that is really hard for me to be able to prove. We will be judged by our actions going forward.

"No, I don't think they've become a national embarrassment," Key added. "I think that Stokes and McCullum are two of the most successful coach and captain partnerships we've had."

With the investigation ongoing, Key reiterated that the best move was to stand Stokes and Atkinson down from the second Test at The Oval, a day after England named a Joe Root-led squad for the same.

Key also elaborated on the decision to appoint Root as interim captain over white-ball skipper Harry Brook, who was struck down by a bouncer outside a nightclub on the eve of the 3rd ODI against New Zealand over the winter last year and heavily fined.

"We just thought this was too big a job at this stage for Harry to take on," Key said. "Ultimately, when English cricket's in a hole, Joe Root is the man that we ask to dig us out of it. Whether that's on the field or off the field. We're incredibly lucky to have him. And when I spoke to him about whether he would consider this, he didn't hesitate.

"There's lots of [other] different reasons for it. We're going to be close to selecting a white ball team for what's a massive series against India, T20 cricket and ODI cricket. So Harry, as well as what's happened in the past, has a huge amount on his plate and we don't want to burden him with that, having to deal with everything."