England’s Ashes squad not available to media ahead of new county season

England’s Ashes contingent will not be speaking to the media ahead of the county season after an intervention from the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The domestic season gets under way on April 3, with the traditional round of media days being held by all 18 teams over the next three weeks.

But those involved with England during their troubled 4-1 defeat in Australia are not currently cleared to field questions, according to sources in the county game.

The Press Association understands the ECB is planning to put up chief executive Richard Gould and managing director of men’s cricket Rob Key for a media briefing to reflect on the events of the winter in the coming weeks and do not want individual players to front up before the management have had their say.

While Jacob Bethell, Ben Duckett, Jofra Archer, Will Jacks and Brydon Carse will be absent due to involvement in the Indian Premier League, the other 11 players are not being made available.

That number includes captain Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Joe Root, Gus Atkinson, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Mark Wood and Shoaib Bashir, several of whom had already been provisionally offered for interview by their counties.

There is some frustration among county camps, who feel the attraction of big name internationals helps shine a spotlight on the first-class game.

Those involved in the recently concluded T20 World Cup also took part in interviews throughout the tournament, with white-ball captain Brook facing lengthy examinations during the warm-up series in Sri Lanka following revelations about his altercation with a bouncer in New Zealand.

Questions those within the England set-up would expect to face in any media interactions would include the future of head coach Brendon McCullum, who has declared his intention to stay on but may find the role comes with new conditions following a series of mis-steps Down Under.

Pre-series preparations, drinking habits, backroom staffing and the broader methods of the set-up all remain on the agenda, alongside selection issues in a series that saw rising star Bethell held back for the faltering Pope and Bashir frozen out after two years of full-blooded support.

Gould announced a ‘thorough review’ of the Ashes series within hours of the Ashes concluding, presumably seeking many of the same answers over the last couple of months.

Players who do line up at the start of the Rothesay County Championship season are still likely to be made available for standard end-of-play interviews with attending media, dependent on performance.