Harry Brook: England white-ball captain on being punched by bouncer in New Zealand
Brook is in Colombo leading England in their white-ball series against Sri Lanka, which begins with the first one-day international on Thursday.
Speaking for the first time since the New Zealand incident was made public, the Yorkshire batter said:
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he was not with any other England players when he was “clocked” by the nightclub bouncer
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he reported the incident to England management during the third one-day international
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he thought there was a possibility he would be sacked, but did not consider resigning
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he has apologised to his team-mates and acknowledged he has “work to do” to regain their trust
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there is now a midnight curfew in place for England players and staff, but rejected allegations of a drinking culture
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Test captain Ben Stokes “wasn’t best pleased” when he was told
Brook was placed in charge of England’s white-ball teams last summer – the tour of New Zealand was his first overseas as captain.
Though he said he did not want to “go into any details” of the Wellington incident, he said it began with some players “going out for food”.
“There was no intention of going out, no intention of putting ourselves in a tricky situation,” he said.
“I took it upon myself to go out for a few more and I was on my own there. I shouldn’t have been there.
“I was trying to get into a club and the bouncer just clocked me, unfortunately. I wouldn’t say I was absolutely leathered. I’d had one too many drinks.”
Brook did not confirm what time he returned to the England hotel, but said it was “late enough”. The following day he was out for six as England slumped to 44-5 in a game they eventually lost by two wickets.
Midway through the game in Wellington, he reported the incident to England management. He was subsequently fined around £30,000 and given the final warning, with the disciplinary proceedings concluded before the Ashes tour.
Askes if he expected to be sacked, Brook said: “It was definitely playing through my mind.”
On resigning, he added: “No, it never came into my mind. I left that decision to the hierarchy. If they’d have sacked me from being captain, then I’d have been perfectly fine with it as long as I was still playing cricket for England.”