The revelation that Brydon Carse was briefly arrested on Saturday night in Derby for being – in the words of Derbyshire police – ‘drunk and disorderly’ confirms the suspicion that England’s cricketers cannot be relied on to behave like the adults Joe Root has craved.The narrative is becoming silly now, and it’s becoming tedious. Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Ben Stokes and now Carse: each has behaved as if the previous booze-related transgression never occurred. Whatever bubble they inhabit burst long ago.It’s no good saying ‘boys will be boys’, as if these are not highly paid professional athletes whose prowess depends to no small degree on their physical fitness.And while Carse was not on England duty at the time of his arrest outside Molly Malone’s Irish Tavern, he was part of the 16-man squad for the first two Tests against Pakistan, and might have been called upon for Thursday’s game at Lord’s if other bowlers had developed a niggle during last week’s win at Headingley.God knows what Root makes of it all, though we will find out when he speaks to media at Lord’s on Tuesday. But it will dismay him that no sooner had he lifted the infantile curfew imposed after the Ashes than Carse has dragged English cricket’s name through the mud once again.Those close to Carse may argue that the club bouncers and local police over-reacted by placing him in handcuffs – and that their decision to quickly ‘de-arrest’ him after he agreed to leave the area shows it was much ado about nothing. Perhaps it was: after all, supposedly grown men get into ridiculous arguments the length and breadth of the land on a Saturday night because someone has knocked over a pint. Brydon Carse has done England captain Joe Root no favours by staying out lateBut the fact remains that Carse was out late and had drunk too much, at a time when Root and incoming coach Stephen Fleming had decided to hand the players more responsibility. As one senior ECB figure put it to Daily Mail Sport, this latest act of self-harm is ‘trying… very trying’.Already once this summer, a rare England Test win has been followed by a drinking escapade, with Stokes and Gus Atkinson heading for the Rex Rooms in Chelsea after the victory over New Zealand at Lord’s. The fallout from that episode derailed their attempts to win the series and ensured the Bazball era ended in ridicule.The repercussions of Derby ought to be less dramatic, since Carse is not in the first team, and Pakistan are weaker than New Zealand. Online talk among their fans that they can take advantage of England’s latest mess seems fanciful. Plainly, though, the timing is poor, not least because 48 hours out from his second Test as returning captain, Root will be fielding questions about player behaviour, not about his hopes of England’s first series win since the end of 2024. Carse was out with former England skipper – and his Durham team-mate – Ben StokesCarse’s decision to make himself vulnerable does not immediately suggest the players are paying much attention to the pleas of their bosses at the ECB, including chief executive Richard Gould and managing director Rob Key.It’s also true that the ECB are paying the price for failing to deal properly with the Brook farce back in late October, when he was punched by a nightclub bouncer on the eve of a one-day international against New Zealand in Wellington. By hushing up the incident, they effectively told the players they need not worry about the court of public opinion. And for all the fines and minor suspensions, that court retains power.But the buck has to stop with the players, and the ECB may have to rethink – yet again – their approach. There is surely now a case for telling the players that they won’t be considered for selection for the foreseeable future if they put themselves in a position where they risk bringing the game into disrepute.They would have to tread carefully around the lawyers, of course, but it is a simple enough principle designed to benefit the greater good. Because if you need to be told that getting drunk in public risks damaging your team-mates, what are you even doing in the dressing-room in the first place?