ECB issue statement over 'temporary ban' placed on England Ashes stars
The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have issued a statement following reports that they were temporarily banning members of England's Ashes squad from fulfilling media commitments at their counties ahead of the new season.
England were defeated 4-1 in the five-Test Ashes series by Australia this winter after losing the first three Tests.
There was significant criticism over England's preparation for the series, their decision-making while batting and their general fielding.
England also did not select Josh Tongue - who was their second-highest wicket-taker in the series - until the third Test, and played part-time spinner Will Jacks as their main spin option in four of the five matches.
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What will no doubt be the biggest regret for England is that, aside from exceptional individual performances from Mitchell Starc and Travis Head for Australia, their own failings with bat and ball ultimately prevented the contest from being much closer.
Cameron Green, for instance, had a torrid series with the bat, scoring just 171 runs from eight innings, while opener Jake Weatherald scored 72 in the second Test before England successfully targeted his clear weakness down the leg-side.
There were some positives, though, with Jacob Bethell hitting a maiden Test hundred in Sydney, Joe Root scoring two centuries and Josh Tongue proving to be a consistent threat with his more unorthodox bowling angle.
Jofra Archer, meanwhile, took a superb five-wicket haul during the third Test in Adelaide and scored a half-century from number 10, but suffered an injury which ruled him out of the series.
England also chased down 175 to win the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne inside two days.
The new domestic season gets underway next month, with players not part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) likely to play some part in the opening rounds of County Championship action.
But The i Paper reported on Thursday that ECB had 'banned all centrally-contracted players' - which covers the entire Ashes squad - from speaking to the media ahead of the new season.
It was added that English cricket's governing body were 'reluctant' to allow the players to speak until a media appearance by ECB chief executive Richard Gould and managing director of cricket Rob Key, which is expected to take place later this month.
The pair are also currently undertaking an internal investigation into the 2025/26 Ashes series.
Sky Sports subsequently offered further detail on the matter, reporting that the ECB had not 'placed a blanket ban' on media commitments but instead had introduced a 'temporary measure to protect the players'.
The report further claimed that the ECB 'does not want to put players in a situation where they are discussing the tour and the future of the coaching staff'.
ECB issue statement
The ECB have since confirmed that players will now be allowed to participate in media duties ahead of the County Championship season - though the exact nature of what those duties will cover is not yet clear.
In a statement to SPORTbible, an ECB spokesperson said: "We want to enable the countries to promote the game ahead of the start of the domestic season, and for England players to take part in these events.
"We're in touch with counties to enable this to happen."
The 2026 County Championship gets underway on April 3, with nine matches taking place across Division One and Two.
Among the members of England's Ashes squad that could feature for their counties, pending official availability confirmation, include Yorkshire's Joe Root, Kent's Zak Crawley, Surrey's Jamie Smith and Ollie Pope, and Derbyshire's Shoaib Bashir.
Ryan Smart