England white-ball captain Harry Brook took a seat in front of a swarm of journalists in Sri Lanka on Wednesday night (AEDT) and copped a grilling about his pre-Ashes nightclubbing incident.
The 26-year-old apologised for being out drinking in Wellington on October 31, just hours before captaining his side in a one-day international against New Zealand.
He also explained why he was out drinking late the night before an ODI, said the bouncer in question “clocked me”, admitted he was lucky to retain the captaincy, addressed claims of a drinking culture in the England set-up, and said rumours that he’d fallen asleep on a park bench were “completely false”.
READ MORE: ‘I think I’m retired’: Papenhuyzen’s staggering new admission
READ MORE: Devastation as match points blown in tough day for Aussies
READ MORE: Sabalenka responds to calls to kick her off tour
Brook was fined £30,000 (A$59,000) by the England and Wales Cricket Board.
The official word out of the ECB is the matter was dealt with prior to the Ashes, though it didn’t surface in the media until after England’s 4-1 series defeat to Australia.
A midnight curfew is in place for the England squad in Sri Lanka, where Brook’s team will play three ODIs and three T20s, beginning on Thursday.
Here are the key questions and answers from the peppering of Brook, which lasted 13 minutes.
Harry Brook addresses the media in Sri Lanka. talkSPORT
What happened in Wellington?
“I’m not going to go into any details but, obviously, I made a terrible mistake, not only as a player, but as a captain,” said Brook, speaking to media in his England training shirt.
“It’s very unprofessional, and I should be leading from the front and showing the players how it should be as a professional cricketer and a captain. I put myself in a bad situation, which I shouldn’t have done … It’s not acceptable as a player to do what I did, but as a captain it’s completely out of order.
“I’ve learnt from my mistakes, I’ve reflected a lot on what’s happened and I know it wasn’t the right thing to do.
“I want to say sorry to my teammates, to all the fans that travel far and wide and spend a lot of money to come out and watch us play cricket and support us, and to the ECB for putting them in a tricky situation.
“It’ll never happen again.”
Harry Brook trudges off after being dismissed for 6 in Wellington the day after the nightclubbing incident. Getty
Why were you out drinking the night before a game and does that normally happen?
“No, it definitely doesn’t,” Brook replied.
“We just went out for some food and we just said, ‘Let’s go for a drink’. There was no intention of going out, no intention of putting ourselves in a tricky situation; it just managed to happen. Obviously, if I had my time again I definitely wouldn’t do it again.”
What happened outside the nightclub?
“I was just trying to get into a club and the bouncer just clocked me, unfortunately,” Brook said.
“I wouldn’t say I was absolutely leathered. I’d had one too many drinks.”
The UK Telegraph has reported Brook was hit by the bouncer after being refused entry.
The Test No.5 said he reported the incident to England management during the ODI that followed the next day.
Did you think you might be sacked?
“It was definitely playing through my mind. Definitely. Even if I had have been sacked I’d have held my hands up and said, ‘Look, I’ve made the mistake’, and I’d have been perfectly fine with getting sacked from the job as captain as long as I was playing cricket.”
He said he never considered resigning.
Asked if he was lucky to still be holding the captaincy, he said: “Probably sightly, yeah.”
Harry Brook departs after losing his wicket in Adelaide in the third Ashes Test. Getty
Is there a drinking culture in the England set-up?
Of course, this question is not only being asked of England because of Brook’s incident in Wellington, but because of the boozy trip to Noosa that followed the second Ashes Test.
“I don’t think there’s a drinking culture at all,” Brook said.
“We’re all old enough and grown up enough to be able to say ‘no’ if we don’t want to drink, and grown up enough to be able to say ‘yes’ if you do want a drink.”
There are other ways to relax than by drinking. Why was the Ashes tour so boozy?
“It wasn’t just drinking. We weren’t just going out and getting leathered every day,” Brook said, half-smirking.
“We were having a few drinks here and there, we were playing plenty of golf, going to nice cafes, having coffees. We had a few drinks here and there.
“I don’t think that’s a bad thing; it’s just what human beings do.”
Do you still have authority over the team?
“I think I’ve got a little bit of work to do to regain the trust of the players,” he said, grinning.
He said he apologised to the team this week.
What do you say about rumours that on the Wellington night in question you slept on a park bench?
“Completely false.”