There was no sign of the usual easy-going, affable nature that has been so indicative of Joe Root’s personality in his 14 years as an England cricketer. Instead, there was clearly anger.Anger that yet another player had damaged the reputation of English cricket by being filmed handcuffed by police outside a nightclub in the early hours of Sunday.Anger that all England’s good work in the first Test victory over Pakistan under new management had been completely overshadowed by another off-field incident.Anger that the ‘new’ captain had to bring forward his media conference ahead of the second Test at Lord’s on Thursday by 24 hours so he could address the latest controversy to envelop the English game in a year that has been littered with them.And anger that, in a 24-minute briefing in the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) boardroom on Tuesday at the ‘Home of Cricket’, all but two of the questions were about the behaviour of Brydon Carse and the wider implications for an England team that seems unable to shake off its negative image.It was impossible not to feel sympathy for Root as he faced the music at Lord’s just a week after he confirmed he had thrown out the curfew that had been put in place and subsequently broken by his predecessor, Ben Stokes, because he wanted to treat the team as “adults”.Fast forward to Saturday night, just a day after England’s latest re-set had brought a convincing victory at Headingley, and there was the eighth centrally-contracted England player to be caught up in a late-night incident apparently involving alcohol across the last 10 months.Brydon Carse bowling in the nets ahead of the first Test at Headingley (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)The facts are that Carse, who had been released by England to play for Durham when he missed out on selection for the first Test, was handcuffed by police outside Molly Malone’s Irish Tavern in Derby while two more England players — Stokes, who remains centrally-contracted, and Matthew Potts — looked on.Carse had been out celebrating Durham’s thrilling victory over Derbyshire that had been completed inside three days, and was due to meet up with England at Lord’s on Monday ahead of the second Test.A video of the chaotic scene taken by a member of the public was widely circulated on social media on Sunday and, on Monday, the ECB announced Carse was no longer available for this week’s second Test because the matter had been referred to the independent and very busy Cricket Regulator.Derbyshire police confirmed in a statement: “A man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly in Derby city centre on Saturday night. However the man was de-arrested shortly afterwards having agreed to leave the area.”Enter Root on Tuesday with his usual smile replaced by the sternest of demeanours.“I’m really hacked off,” he said. “I’m really disappointed that, after last week’s performance, we’re sat here talking about something that’s not related to it at all.“In terms of the incident itself it’s obviously with the regulator and there’s not a lot I can say about it. It’s in their hands now. I’ve spoken to Brydon and, when I found out, my first concern was for him as a person. He’s someone I’ve spent a lot of time with.“I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn in saying he’s very upset, very apologetic and understands his actions. I’m sure when he gets his chance he’ll say that himself.“It’s not the isolated incident itself. It’s the fact we continuously keep making stupid mistakes away from the game and it’s detracting from what we’re doing on the field.“I just think if we don’t put ourselves in certain situations it’s not something we’ll have to worry about. The landscape is very different now and not every picture tells the truth, but, at the same time, we must understand the impact our actions can have.“Clearly we are not portraying ourselves how we want to. We have an opportunity to build a culture that is very strong that we can be proud of and is player driven. But of course that isn’t going to happen overnight.”Joe Root has been left angered and frustrated (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)The crux of the matter is the context.Perhaps this latest incident could have been shrugged off if it had been a one-off, a case of cricketers celebrating a victory in time-honoured fashion; nobody getting hurt and nothing happening that doesn’t occur in most English city centres late on any given Saturday night. But it keeps on happening and it keeps on happening to England cricketers, raising the whole question of drinking cultures and an apparent lack of professionalism in the camp.It has become increasingly embarrassing for English cricket, and particularly embarrassing for a new captain in Root charged as much with improving England’s tattered reputation off the field as on it.The captain tried to treat his players like grown ups by quickly discarding the draconian curfew and all other restrictions on drinking that had been proposed by managing director Rob Key after the ill-fated Ashes tour and the late night out in Chelsea involving Stokes and another England player in Gus Atkinson, which ended with a security guard being punched by a Saracens rugby player.Then Root’s best intentions were thrown back in his face.To recap, the first and probably worst incident on England’s charge sheet came on Halloween last year when Harry Brook was punched by a nightclub bouncer in Wellington the night before he captained England in a one-day international against New Zealand.The ECB’s subsequent cover up was to haunt them when it became public at the end of an Ashes series as notable for England’s indiscipline off the pitch during a scheduled break mid-series in Noosa as their shambolic capitulation to Australia on it.Harry Brook was involved in an altercation with a nightclub bouncer the night before he captained England in New Zealand (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)Now, following the retirement of Stokes after he was caught up in that late-night incident at the Rex Rooms while celebrating England’s first Test victory over New Zealand, England have turned to Root and new coach Stephen Fleming to clear up the mess and convince a weary public they really are serious people and elite professional athletes.It has not got off to the best of starts, forcing Root to lay down the law to his team yet again on Tuesday following his plea for them to act responsibly falling on some deaf ears.“We’ve had a very strong discussion this morning about what’s expected of everyone when they play for England, what the standards are that we have to uphold — not just on the field but off it,” Root, who revealed he had also spoken to Stokes about this latest incident, told reporters.“There are certain things I think should stay in the dressing room but there is a clear understanding of what’s required, what it should mean to play for England and how we need to better ourselves. It was a really good conversation and it’s all crystal clear.“I can understand why supporters would be fed up with this being the narrative around the team once again, and that’s our own doing. This is something we’re going to have to work on over a long period of time and, hopefully, we can earn that respect and support back from people who do follow us and care about our cricket.”Brydon Carse was England’s leading wicket taker in Australia over the winter (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)Carse was injured earlier in the season and has yet to represent the Test side this summer. It is unlikely he would have played at Lord’s unless there was an injury to any of the bowlers who played at Headingley, but it was still his duty to behave in a responsible manner just two days before he was due to join up with England’s second Test squad.He is no stranger to controversy, notably when he was suspended for three months by the Cricket Regulator for betting on cricket between 2017 and 2019, contravening rules.But the 31-year-old was England’s leading wicket-taker during the winter’s 4-1 defeat to Australia, taking 22 wickets, and remains an important all-format bowler for England.Root refused to comment on Carse’s future until the investigation by the Cricket Regulator is complete, but clearly he will have bridges to rebuild with his captain and England even if he is cleared of any wrong-doing now. His international status is in the balance.The one consolation for England is that they turned to Root to be their captain for a second time after Stokes’ shock retirement. It is difficult to imagine vice-captain Brook, the only other candidate to step up, having to sit in front of the media on Tuesday talking about the need for better behaviour when it was his misdemeanour that sparked this latest crisis in English cricket in the first place.Root remains a beacon of hope for England but the trouble is supporters have heard about a desire to build an improved culture so many times before only to see all the admirable words undermined by the players’ deeds.This time those words have to be backed up by more responsible actions otherwise England really will have to make examples out of any players who do not pay attention.