In the 1897 season, Peel was suspended by Yorkshire for drunkenness.
Alcohol was popular with many professional cricketers, and the careers of several Yorkshire players in this period, including Peate, had been ended for this reason.
Peel was always known to be a heavy drinker, but his behaviour had been tolerated.
His fame, brought about by his performances, made the problem worse.
Derek Hodgson, in the official Yorkshire club history, writes: "A cheerful, gregarious man, [Peel] took to hospitality and entertaining with alacrity and moved in such society, particularly in London, that when one of the foremost journalists of the day asked to see him he was fobbed off by a man who announced himself as 'Peel's secretary', adding: 'He does not like interviews and has little to say.
He sent me to take his place.'"
Hodgson observes: "It is not impossible, of course, that Bobby was either shy, or 'indisposed' at that particular moment", and suggests that Peel's downfall, like Peate's before him, was because he "was too often the toast of the town".

In 1897, Peel had played regularly until July with some success.
He scored 115 against Leicestershire, and took eight for 53 against Kent.
He then suffered an injury in a match against Lancashire that caused him to miss around a month of cricket.
He returned to the Yorkshire team to play Middlesex at Sheffield on 16 August.
In Middlesex's first innings, Peel took five for 71, but on the third day, he appeared on the field drunk.
Later that day, the Yorkshire committee met and resolved to suspend Peel for the remainder of the season for "presenting himself on the field in a state of intoxication".
According to Anthony Woodhouse, in his history of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, this was not Peel's first such offence.
Contemporary accounts give no indication of trouble on the field involving Peel, but the influential Lord Hawke may have encouraged the press to remain silent.
The decision to suspend Peel was made public on 19 August, the following day.

There are several conflicting versions of what happened on the field in the Middlesex game.
On the morning of 19 August, replying to suggestions that he was drunk, Peel spoke to a newspaper reporter and stated: "Before I went on the ground at Sheffield—I don't blush to say it—I had two small glasses of gin and water.
At luncheon time I had nothing".
Peel said that he opened the bowling with Stanley Jackson and was eventually rested without a word being said to him.
He stated that he later slipped twice while fielding, but the cause was that the spikes on his boots were broken.
That evening, when he went to collect his wages at the end of the game, the Yorkshire secretary, Joseph Wolstenholme, informed him of the suspension on the grounds that his play was "unsatisfactory", and when pressed by Peel for an explanation, he told him: "You have had a glass too much".

The cricket writer A. A. Thompson relates a different story told to him fifty years later by Hirst, who played in the match.
According to this account, Hirst was having breakfast when Peel came in drunk.
Anxious that Peel would be seen, and worried about bringing the team into disrepute, Hirst forced Peel to return to bed and went to the ground, where he told Lord Hawke that Peel had been taken ill in the night and would not be able to play.
Hawke promised to see Peel that evening and took the twelfth man onto the field.
According to Thompson, when Hirst went onto the field, he saw "with dawning dismay that there were not eleven fieldsmen present but twelve.
There, his face red, his cap awry, the ball in his hand, stood Peel".
Peel was even more drunk than at breakfast, and Hawke ordered him from the field.
Peel replied that he was fine, and according to Hirst bowled a ball to demonstrate his fitness, but in his confusion did so in the wrong direction.
Peel was then led from the field.
After falling asleep in the hotel, he was advised by Hirst to apologise to Lord Hawke, but refused, claiming that he was indispensable to the team and would be recalled.

A different, widely circulate
In the 1897 season, Peel was suspended by Yorkshire for drunkenness. Alcohol was popular with many professional cricketers, and the careers of several Yorkshire players in this period, including Peate, had been ended for this reason. Peel was always known to be a heavy drinker, but his behaviour had been tolerated. His fame, brought about by his performances, made the problem worse. Derek Hodgson, in the official Yorkshire club history, writes: "A cheerful, gregarious man, [Peel] took to hospitality and entertaining with alacrity and moved in such society, particularly in London, that when one of the foremost journalists of the day asked to see him he was fobbed off by a man who announced himself as 'Peel's secretary', adding: 'He does not like interviews and has little to say. He sent me to take his place.'" Hodgson observes: "It is not impossible, of course, that Bobby was either shy, or 'indisposed' at that particular moment", and suggests that Peel's downfall, like Peate's before him, was because he "was too often the toast of the town".
In 1897, Peel had played regularly until July with some success. He scored 115 against Leicestershire, and took eight for 53 against Kent. He then suffered an injury in a match against Lancashire that caused him to miss around a month of cricket. He returned to the Yorkshire team to play Middlesex at Sheffield on 16 August. In Middlesex's first innings, Peel took five for 71, but on the third day, he appeared on the field drunk. Later that day, the Yorkshire committee met and resolved to suspend Peel for the remainder of the season for "presenting himself on the field in a state of intoxication". According to Anthony Woodhouse, in his history of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, this was not Peel's first such offence. Contemporary accounts give no indication of trouble on the field involving Peel, but the influential Lord Hawke may have encouraged the press to remain silent. The decision to suspend Peel was made public on 19 August, the following day.
There are several conflicting versions of what happened on the field in the Middlesex game. On the morning of 19 August, replying to suggestions that he was drunk, Peel spoke to a newspaper reporter and stated: "Before I went on the ground at Sheffield—I don't blush to say it—I had two small glasses of gin and water. At luncheon time I had nothing". Peel said that he opened the bowling with Stanley Jackson and was eventually rested without a word being said to him. He stated that he later slipped twice while fielding, but the cause was that the spikes on his boots were broken. That evening, when he went to collect his wages at the end of the game, the Yorkshire secretary, Joseph Wolstenholme, informed him of the suspension on the grounds that his play was "unsatisfactory", and when pressed by Peel for an explanation, he told him: "You have had a glass too much".
The cricket writer A. A. Thompson relates a different story told to him fifty years later by Hirst, who played in the match. According to this account, Hirst was having breakfast when Peel came in drunk. Anxious that Peel would be seen, and worried about bringing the team into disrepute, Hirst forced Peel to return to bed and went to the ground, where he told Lord Hawke that Peel had been taken ill in the night and would not be able to play. Hawke promised to see Peel that evening and took the twelfth man onto the field. According to Thompson, when Hirst went onto the field, he saw "with dawning dismay that there were not eleven fieldsmen present but twelve. There, his face red, his cap awry, the ball in his hand, stood Peel". Peel was even more drunk than at breakfast, and Hawke ordered him from the field. Peel replied that he was fine, and according to Hirst bowled a ball to demonstrate his fitness, but in his confusion did so in the wrong direction. Peel was then led from the field. After falling asleep in the hotel, he was advised by Hirst to apologise to Lord Hawke, but refused, claiming that he was indispensable to the team and would be recalled.
A different, widely circulate
Bobby Peel