• Joe Root and Stuart Broad pull out of Jos Buttler’s Amsterdam stag do • Andrew Strauss understood to have ‘lightly pushed’ others to withdraw

England have moved to clamp down on player behaviour in the aftermath of the Ben Stokes affair with Joe Root and Stuart Broad among members of the Ashes squad to have pulled out of Jos Buttler’s stag do in Amsterdam this weekend after encouragement by the team management.

Stokes and Alex Hales are missing the social trip to the Netherlands as they are due in for further police questioning in the coming days. It follows the altercation in Bristol in the early hours of Monday that has led to the pair being suspended on full pay and left England in crisis.

But Andrew Strauss, the team director, is understood to have “lightly pushed” others heading to Australia this winter to withdraw from the weekend’s activities, such is the fear at the England and Wales Cricket Board that it could spark more negative publicity in the current climate.

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England have bought themselves time to deal with Hales and Stokes, having stood the pair down from national selection indefinitely, pending the outcome of a police investigation and outsourced their internal case to the Cricket Discipline Commission, the panel of which is being led by the former Derbyshire cricketer turned lawyer Tim O’Gorman.

That decision was prompted by the Sun newspaper publishing footage of the late-night incident that came after Sunday’s one-day international against West Indies in Bristol and led to Stokes’s arrest before being released under investigation. Both he and Hales say the altercation began when they came to the aid of two gay men being abused in the street at 2.30am.

Avon and Somerset Police are now looking into this claim and on Friday issued an updated appeal for the two witnesses in question to come forward. While Hales is next due to play for England in the one-day series against Australia in January, Stokes is facing an anxious wait to see if he will be charged given he is part of the Ashes squad that departs on 28 October.

Before then comes the announcement of central contracts for 2017-18 next Wednesday, although England may delay this given the fast moving nature of events. As it stands, both players are expected to retain their current deals given the ECB is desperate not to pre-judge the outcome of any possible criminal proceedings.

Strauss has already said he will review England’s approach to conduct and team rules too, having previously endorsed the relaxed environment of the head coach Trevor Bayliss – one that sees no curfews set for nights out and trusts players to behave responsibly – only to see it blow up spectacularly.

There is an internal disciplinary probe underway regarding three of the cricketers also out drinking in Bristol late on Sunday, albeit not present at the time of the incident. Jake Ball, Jonny Bairstow and Liam Plunkett are all waiting to learn if they are in trouble, with Strauss stating he would wait until after Friday’s final ODI in Southampton.