Cricketers live under strict guidelines when they are playing a serious of matches. This involves a curfew. If one or more miss it, reports will come out and the ones responsible for it will face major heat and backlash.
This has been the case with England and players, Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson.
Publicly, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has admitted the breach of protocols. In mentioning the "early hours of Monday morning" in a statement, the governing body left Stokes and Atkinson bang to rights.
It is what happened next that may decide Stokes' future as captain and possibly as an international cricketer.
It's known that there was an interaction with 21-year-old Saracens forward, Totoa Auvaa. England cricketers and Saracens players often move in the same circles and some of the Sarries squad had been present at Lord's.
How the incident unfolded is unclear but the outcome was a member of the England security team was left bloodied and in need of medical attention. He hadn't been drinking.
If Stokes and Atkinson were merely in the wrong place at the wrong time, it will be up to the ECB to decide how big a crime that is.
Given the context of the winter and Stokes' position of authority, there will be plenty who believe simply putting himself in that situation is enough for a change of captain.
Stokes has history here - lots of it, starting with being sent home from an England Lions tour in 2013 for too much boozing.
The incident outside a Bristol nightclub in 2017 almost cost him his England career. Charged and eventually cleared of affray, he explained he was acting to defend members of the public. He later revealed the ordeal had a long-lasting effect on his mental health.
In the early part of last year, Stokes said he gave up alcohol to aid his recovery from a hamstring injury and invested in a non-alcoholic drinks brand.
On Sunday, straight after the win against New Zealand, he was eager to get on the sauce.
"I won't be really happy until I get to share a beer with the boys," he said in the post-match news conference.
Perhaps Stokes is a microcosm of cricket's complex relationship with alcohol, right down to a recreational game that is built on the culture of pints in the clubhouse.
Andrew Flintoff's drinking session after England won the 2005 Ashes is part of this country's sporting folklore. Australia coach, Andrew McDonald, suggested Travis Head had as much fun off the field as he did on it during the past Ashes in Australia.
International cricketers are often young men, away from home for months on end. The mental toll touring life can take is well documented.
Then again, there are plenty of ways to escape cricket without visiting the pub. There are countless cricketers who don't drink at all and many more professional athletes from other sports who never touch a drop.
From a high-performance point of view, is a late-night drinking session the correct way to be in the best shape for the second Test at The Oval next week?
Australia spinner, Nathan Lyon, recently revealed his belief that drinking after winning the World Test Championship in 2023 contributed to his calf injury in the second Ashes Test three weeks later.
It is that second Test that leaves England with precious little time. A squad is due to be named and there is a possibility that Stokes and Atkinson aren't in it.
Atkinson took seven wickets at Lord's, a successful return after a difficult Ashes. It would be a personal setback to surrender his place but England have the fast-bowling stocks to cover for him. Jofra Archer could return.
Stokes' absence is much more problematic. In that scenario, could England really pass the captaincy on to Brook? How could one captain not be in charge because of a nightclub incident; with the replacement less than a year on from a nightclub incident of his own?
This is the dilemma facing coach, Brendon McCullum; Managing Director, Rob Key; ECB chief executive, Richard Gould and chair, Richard Thompson. They are a group so tightly bound together that this latest fiasco could bring the whole house down.
The ECB top brass reviewed the Ashes, on and off the field and decided there was no need to change the management structure. At the first time of asking, they have been embarrassed, calling their judgement into question.
All those above Stokes have a right to be angry he has let them down, yet they all must share in the blame for creating an environment where Stokes thought it was OK to break the rules.
"Informal" was McCullum's description of his operation. He may be regretting the informality, even if he regularly drums home a message that "nothing good happens after midnight".
So, the decision.
Is a late night in London enough to cost Stokes the England captaincy? Might he feel that his position is untenable? Could the ECB decide enough is enough, and no man - not even Ben Stokes - is above the health of the England team and the reputation of the game?
Or is being in the wrong place at the very wrong time not enough to bring down one of the best players to have ever pulled on an England shirt?
It is a time for clear heads. Not many of those are found near the bar in the early hours.
The squad announcement for next week's second Test at the Oval has been delayed and there are now growing concerns over whether Stokes can continue as England captain.
"He's in severe doubt," Gower told the BBC on Tuesday. "One of the responsibilities as a captain is to set the right tone; if you're leading, you have to set the right example."
The 69-year-old, one of the outstanding batsmen of his generation, added: "They have to sort it out. If you've agreed to a curfew you have to abide by it.
"I've got a lot of respect for Ben and most the things he's done for the last three years or so as England captain."
"He has become - or, I probably have to use the past tense now - had become, a very important figure as a leader of that team. I don't know what he's thinking at the moment... regret could be the least of it. He will be mortified, I'm sure, to have put himself in that position in the early hours.
Ben Stokes is reportedly preparing to make a decision regarding his future as England captain, following the ongoing repercussions of a nightclub altercation involving team-mate Gus Atkinson and a Saracens rugby player.
The incident, which occurred in the early hours of Monday morning at a Chelsea nightspot, took place after celebrations for England’s recent Test victory over New Zealand at Lord’s.
The ECB, the independent Cricket Regulator and the Gallagher Premiership club are all conducting investigations into the events.
There is a distinct possibility that a breach of team protocols could lead to Stokes being stripped of the captaincy, a role he has held since the summer of 2022. However, it is understood that the ultimate decision currently rests with him.
Sources suggest that Stokes is contemplating stepping down as skipper and it is not inconceivable that he might even consider retiring from international cricket altogether.
Senior figures within the ECB are said to be furious about the potential reputational damage, particularly as it follows a "chaotic winter" marked by criticism of the team’s professionalism and drinking habits.
While the ECB has granted Stokes time to consider his position, that window is rapidly closing. Training for next week’s second Test at the Kia Oval is scheduled to commence on Sunday, with the squad due to gather before then.
PA understands that Totoa Auvaa, former Samoa A and Samoa Under-20 captain, is the Saracens player implicated. Auvaa, 21, is a back-five forward who joined Saracens’ senior academy ahead of the current season and is viewed as a promising prospect.
A security guard who was with the England pair but who is understood not to be a member of ECB staff, was reportedly injured in the incident.
The damaging episode began with a contingent of England cricketers meeting Saracens squad members at the White Horse pub in Fulham on Sunday evening, with the latter group marking the end of their season.
According to a bartender, who asked not to be named, a group of around 20 players, including Stokes and England rugby internationals Maro Itoje and Ben Earl, were served in the establishment between 21:00 and 23:00.
The Rugby Football Union and Saracens have declined to comment and there is no suggestion that either Itoje or Earl were involved in what took place later on.
The employee said Stokes ordered a couple of rum and Cokes and the group was engaging in "huge rounds." He described the atmosphere between the group as "super nice," adding: "I assumed they all knew each other in the way that they were talking."
He said the group left when the White Horse closed at 23:00 and some looked like they were going to "kick on."
Presss Association (PA) understands earlier in the evening a lot of the Saracens rugby players were seen drinking at the Crabtree pub in Fulham. They were not seen with any of the England cricketers at that stage, a local witness has said.
Senior figures at the ECB will be furious there are once again question marks over the conduct and culture of the men’s team.
There were multiple reports of late-night drinking sessions on their doomed Ashes campaign over the winter, including a boozy trip to the beach resort of Noosa between the second and third Tests.
The subsequent revelation that white-ball captain, Harry Brook, had been involved in a scuffle with a nightclub bouncer in Wellington on the preceding tour of New Zealand was another damaging affair that saw him fined and issued with a final warning.
Remarkably, as Stokes’ vice-captain, Brook could now be asked to lead the side in his absence. Joe Root, who did the job for five years before Stokes took over and is the squad’s senior figure, could be another option.
In 2017, Stokes was involved in an incident outside a Bristol nightclub that resulted in him being charged with affray. He subsequently missed the Ashes tour of 2017-18 before he was cleared of the charge the following summer.
It feels an act of staggering stupidity after a winter in which you and your bosses have been forced, at length, to deny accusations of a drinking culture and a set-up that allows its players too much freedom.
The introduction of a curfew was itself a sign of an environment perhaps not functioning as it should but came after it emerged that Harry Brook, Stokes’ vice-captain, had been involved in a fracas with a nightclub bouncer in Wellington the night before he had been due to skipper England in a one-day international (ODI). Brook was fined thousands of pounds and given a stern censure.
There is a certain irony in the fact that Brook is now in line to step in should Stokes, as is expected, be dropped from the second Test squad, and perhaps relinquish the captaincy altogether. The ECB are investigating the incident but their statement on Monday very much hinted that neither the current captain nor Atkinson will be named in a squad due to be released early this week.
The investigation will have to run its course but it would be sensible, regardless of the outcome, to take the pair out of the public eye.
For while as an isolated incident, this could be brushed off as a small lapse of judgement and unfortunate scenario, the ECB have a right to be furious that it has transpired. Reports that a punch thrown by the Saracens academy player hit an ECB security officer who was supervising Stokes and Atkinson, and that the security officer then required stitches, adds another potential wrinkle.
In the wake of the Ashes, the ECB had backed McCullum, Stokes and the rest of the hierarchy on a change manifesto; a vow that things would be different, on and off the field. That promise has been broken at virtually the earliest opportunity.
There is some sympathy to be felt for Stokes in all of this. As a leader, he has had to shoulder a remarkable burden over the last four years, speaking often not just for himself but for his team and his sport. The all-rounder, who turned 35 during the Lord’s Test, will have been hit hard by the events of the winter and has faced a disrupted start to the year, with his return from a groin problem delayed by a nasty facial injury suffered while bowling in the nets at Durham.
The example he set down under was positive, even if other members of the team could not say the same. He had given up alcohol last year during his recovery from hamstring surgery as he sought to be fully fit for a real tilt at Australia. He was; his team was not.
While it is right that he faces punishment, and it is difficult to see him remaining skipper, there will be a duty of care to him as well. In 2021, Stokes stepped away from cricket to prioritise his mental wellbeing, processing the death of his father and the saga relating to an incident outside a Bristol nightclub, in which he was acquitted on a charge of affray but punished by the ECB for bringing the game into disrepute.
He has, broadly, been a force for real good as England captain and it would be a shame to see it end under such circumstances, but this latest misstep may have left England with little choice.
Ben Stokes is preparing to make a decision on his future as England captain, as the fallout continues from a nightclub confrontation involving team-mate Gus Atkinson and a Saracens rugby player.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, the independent Cricket Regulator and the Gallagher Prem club are all investigating events which took place in the early hours of Monday morning at a Chelsea nightspot after celebrations following a Test win over New Zealand at Lord’s.
There is a possibility that the breach of team protocols could see Stokes stripped of the captaincy, a role he has held since the summer of 2022, but the PA understands the ball is currently in his court.
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I always knew that keeping the key figures in charge was a bad idea. Leopards never changes its spots. I would be shocked if Stokes remains in the team and retains the captaincy. Atkinson should also be dropped.
England's summer of cricket could be screwed up because of this. It can be difficult to get over a scandal.