ROOT’S MEN LEFT TO POLICE OWN DRINKING

ENGLAND’S cricketers will be allowed to drink during the Ashes tour but have been warned to be sensible.

England coach Trevor Bayliss said Joe Root’s team would be expected to stay off the booze leading into Test matches.

Bayliss knows the team’s off-field behaviour will be under the spotlight in Australia following the Ben Stokes punch-up scandal and said they discussed the issue before leaving Britain.

There will be no curfews and no alcohol bans — but Bayliss expects the players to self-police and be professional.

“The players sat down and had a chat,” he said. “They are the ones who have come up with this.”