England players under central contracts temporarily banned from speaking to the media for their counties by ECB

The ECB will temporarily prevent centrally contracted England players from speaking to the media for their counties and discussing the Ashes.

Sky Sports News understands that English cricket’s governing body have not placed a blanket ban on players speaking to the media but want to ensure that Rob Key, England’s managing director of men’s cricket, and Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, address the media first and have put in place this temporary measure to protect the players.

It is understood 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. It is expected that Gould and Key will address the media in the coming weeks before the majority of media days held by counties.

The measure has been brought in to protect players that would be due to face the media, and will allow Key and Gould to address any questions about the future of England’s red ball side.

Surrey’s media day takes place on March 17, however, the majority of other counties are holding access later this month and in April.

England and head coach Brendan McCullum have been under intense scrutiny after a disastrous Ashes campaign, which only heightened after news filtered out regarding off-field incidents.

ECB bosses are still conducting a formal review into what went wrong in Australia, but McCullum is expected to remain in post and get the chance to lead the Test team into a home Ashes in 2027.

England did reach the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup where they lost narrowly to hosts India.

McCullum previously told Sky Sports: “I feel we have achieved some really cool things over the last few years but there is still so much to achieve with the side, across all formats.

“[They’ll have] a bit of time to reflect, to let things land and objectively look at what is and isn’t working.”