Harry Brook has described his altercation with a nightclub bouncer on the eve of England’s one-day international against New Zealand as a “terrible mistake” and admitted he is lucky to still be England captain.
Brook was fined and given a warning for future conduct by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as a result of the incident in November.
The 26-year-old was appointed white-ball captain in April last year and promoted to vice-captain of the Test team in September, but Brook initially apologized in a statement during the final Test of England Ashes in Australia.
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Speaking to the media in Colombo on Wednesday ahead of the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, Brooke revealed he ventured out alone in Wellington and was “stopped down” by bouncers as he tried to enter a nightclub.
“I made a terrible mistake not only as a player but also as a captain,” Brook admitted. “This was very unprofessional and I put myself in a bad situation when I should have been leading the way and showing the players what a professional cricketer and a captain should be like.
“I’d like to say I’m sorry to my team-mates and to all the fans who travel far and spend a lot of money to watch cricket matches. I went for a few drinks beforehand and then ventured out for a few more and I was alone there.”
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Brook revealed that although he was worried about being sacked as captain, he told the ECB what happened during the ODI in Wellington, believing that by doing so he would avoid harsher punishment.
“I trusted the ECB and told them I had made a mistake. Thankfully I am still playing cricket for England, which has been my dream since I was a child,” Brook added. “I told them in the middle of the game and I felt like we needed to reflect on that and come up with a plan to counteract what happened.
“(Resigning) never crossed my mind. I left that decision to the higher-ups. If they would remove me as captain, I think I would have no problem with it, as long as I was still playing cricket for England.”
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“I think I was probably a bit (lucky). Even if I had been sacked, I would have thrown my hands up and said, ‘Look, I made a mistake.’ As long as I was still playing cricket, I would have had no problem getting sacked from the captaincy job.”
Brook downplays England team’s ‘drinking culture’
The incident was one of the more controversial moments in recent months, with England having to answer questions about their preparations and an alleged “drinking culture” after Mid Ash’s trip to Noosa.
ECB chief executive Richard Gould has carried out a formal review of the Ashes trip, with a focus on “behavior” and a late night curfew imposed on England players, among other restrictions.
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“I don’t think there’s a drinking culture at all,” Brooke insisted. “We’re all old enough and grown up to say no if we don’t want to drink, and grown enough to say yes if we want to drink.
“We weren’t just drinking. We weren’t just going out and polishing leather every day. We were drinking here and there. We were playing a lot of golf, going to nice cafes, drinking coffee, but we had a little bit here and there.”
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Brook is preparing to lead England on this six-match tour of Sri Lanka, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Cricket, before the T20 World Cup campaign begins in Mumbai on February 9.
Brook added: “I think we have a little bit of work to do to regain the confidence of the players.” “Yesterday (Tuesday) I said I was sorry to them. I felt the need to apologize for my actions.
“As a player it’s unacceptable, but as a captain it’s really unacceptable for him to do what he did in New Zealand.”
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Speaking about the upcoming series, Brook said: “We will never take these matches lightly. We want to go out and win and play our best cricket. We want to aim for a win every time we go on tour.”
“We want to win every game. We have a big series coming up here against strong teams in their respective conditions, which will be good preparation for the T20 World Cup.”
“We haven’t been consistent enough and we haven’t played to the best of our ability. We’re probably struggling with the aggression of the way we want to play. It’s important to capitalize on our good start.”
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