Reinstated captain Root removes England curfew ahead of Pakistan test series

[p]The 35-year-old's ‌remarks come amid the intense scrutiny surrounding [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/UJC5mtAU/"]‌England[/a]'s dressing room culture over the past year under ‌former coach [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mccullum-brendon/0KJ3u1y4/"]Brendon McCullum[/a] and former captain [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stokes-ben/bqDhqGMG/"]Ben ‌Stokes[/a].[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/root-joe/EkKzSCk2/"]Root[/a], England's all-time leading test run-scorer, returned to the captaincy following Stokes' retirement in June amid the test series ‌against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-zealand/G6PWlrQB/"]New Zealand[/a], during which the ⁠all-rounder was suspended for ‌a test along with pacer [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/atkinson-gus/Aodjczhc/"]Gus Atkinson[/a] for breaching ​a team curfew during a night out in London.[/p][p]McCullum, too, stepped down following England's 2-1 ​series loss, and was replaced by former teammate Stephen Fleming.[/p][p][b]"There’s not going to be a curfew. ⁠I don’t think ​this needs to be a big deal, to be honest," Root said on the [i]Sky Sports Cricket[/i] podcast published on Wednesday.[/b][/p][p][b]"My view is that if players ‌are expected to take responsibility on the field, they should be trusted as grown adults to make good decisions off it as well.[/b][/p][p][b]"That’s something we, as a team, have to manage properly and police ourselves, alongside Stephen Fleming."[/b][/p][embed guid="daa5de48-9fde-45bc-876d-150f993c2569" url="https://x.com/SkyCricket/status/2087520755768557773" social-type="twitter" /][p]England's team culture has been under scrutiny since last year's 4-1 Ashes defeat in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/australia/OxG0JfXg/"]Australia[/a] and a string of off-field incidents. ‌Among them was an altercation involving [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brook-harry/MefSexXu/"]Harry Brook[/a] and ​a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand.[/p][p]ECB chief ‌executive Richard Gould said in January that players would be subject to stricter measures, including a midnight curfew.[/p][p]England are seventh in the World Test Championship standings. Root and Fleming will begin their ⁠tenure in the ⁠three-test series against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/pakistan/tS3K91g9/"]Pakistan[/a], ‌which starts on August 19th.[/p]