After turbulent summer, England head into winter schedule

LONDON, Sept 27 - England’s emphatic win over Sri Lanka in the last clash of their three-match One Day International series on Sunday brought down the curtain on a tumultuous home summer but there will be hardly any rest as the team head out on the road.

The sudden and shock retirement of captain Ben Stokes, the sacking of Brendon McCullum as test coach and more off-field incidents punctuated recent months as England played Test series against New Zealand and Pakistan and beat both India and Sri Lanka in ODI and Twenty20 contests.

They suffered a 2-1 Test series defeat to New Zealand, with Stokes quitting and McCullum being sacked, although he kept his role as coach of the ODI and T20 teams.

Stokes had been left out for the second test against New Zealand in June after breaking a team curfew and then announced his retirement from international cricket during the third test, which they went on to lose by 160 runs, citing exhaustion.

With Joe Root returning as captain, England were back on track with a one-sided 3-0 Test series win over Pakistan, who were hampered by their own problems and proved disjointed opponents.

But even then the build-up to the second Test was overshadowed by an incident involving bowler Brydon Carse outside a nightclub in Derby, where he was handcuffed by police and then dropped from the England squad.

Root described himself as "hacked off" by the growing list of alcohol-related incidents involving England players after the controversy of last winter’s tours, including Harry Brook being fined £30,000 ($41,000) following an altercation in Wellington as well as reports of drinking during a mid-Ashes series trip to Noosa.

Now they go off again for winter action, with a tri-series next month in Pakistan that also includes Sri Lanka, then three ODIs and five T20s in Australia followed by a three-Test series in South Africa with former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming as the new Test coach.

Fleming has promised a more measured approach to the Test side after Stokes and McCullum introduced a brand of cricket quickly nicknamed "Bazball".

England also have three ODIs in South Africa, who co-host the 2027 Cricket World Cup next October, and the one-off, pink ball, day-night 150th anniversary of Test cricket clash against Australia in Melbourne in March.

"I would love to be in charge of the number one Test team in the world. That would be my aspiration," Fleming said last week. REUTERS