6 min readFeb 5, 2026 07:59 PM IST
The recent months have seen the England team players embroiled in controversies during the New Zealand tour as well the Ashes. Post their 3-1 loss against Australia, reports came that England white-ball captain and Test vice-captain Harry Brook was involved in a brawl with a club bouncer during New Zealand Tour while the England players’ behaviour was criticised during the team’s trip to Noosa between the Brisbane and Adelaide Test of the Ashes with some of the England players including opener Ben Duckett seen drinking multiple times as per media reports. With England Cricket Board launching a review of the tour apart from implementing a curfew on the England players during the Sri Lanka Tour as well the T20 World Cup, a lot of spotlight will be on coach Brendon McCullum and his team. After England’s 3-0 win over Sri Lanka in the three-match T20I series earlier this week, McCullum spoke about how he believes his players did not go ‘overboard’ and how a lot of it was ‘completely out of order’.
“I don’t think the boys went overboard at all. In fact, I thought a lot of the pile-on for it was completely out of line. Noosa is where people go to retire. There was a reason why we chose Noosa. It was being made out as this big stag do place. It couldn’t be further from that. If we wanted a stag do and we wanted a lair up, we would have gone to Gold Coast. It’s not all about what goes on on the field. If you do that, then you won’t last long in this game. Again, I feel a lot of it was completely out of order, the fallout from it or the pile-on from it. In the end, they’re good at cricket. That’s what their gift is. They’re not the finished articles as people yet,” McCullum said in an interview with the broadcasters post England’s win in Sri Lanka.
On the last day of the Ashes series, a report by The Daily Telegraph had reported that England white-ball captain and Test vice-captain Harry Brook was involved in a late-night brawl with a nightclub bouncer during England’s tour to New Zealand last year. According to the report, Brook was struck by the club’s bouncer after being refused entry to the club and the England white-ball captain was fined 30,000 pounds by ECB and a final earning for his future conduct. Post the report, Brook had admitted about the incident prior to the first ODI against Sri Lanka at Colombo last month. “I was just 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 had told the media. A day later, Daily Telegraph reported that Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue too were present during the incident. Later Brook acknowledged that other players were also present. “I accept responsibility for my actions in Wellington and acknowledge others were present that evening. I regret my previous comments and my intention was to protect my teammates from being drawn into a situation that arose as a result of my own decisions. I have apologised and will continue to reflect on the matter. This has been a challenging period in my career, but one from which I am learning,” Brook had told the media in Sri Lanka.
England Cricket Board had also launched a review for the disastrous tour with the board reviewing the England side for ‘planning and preparation, individual performance and behaviours’ during the tour as well introducing a curfew for the players for Sri Lanka Tour and T20 World Cup. Sharing his views about the incident, McCullum spoke about how there was no need to release the details of the incident. “I don’t think there was any need to release the details until it was obviously found in the media. The boys have made a mistake. They’re not the first ones that have ever done it, they won’t be the last ones.”The process was done internally at the ECB, which we were all a part of. We’ve dealt with the processes of the last little while, I thought, pretty well. They’ve been severely reprimanded. And, to be honest, I find it quite annoying that we keep going on and on about it,” added McCullum.
When asked if he would be opposed to the curfew, the coach replied that he wants the best for the team and wants to make sure that ‘we look after them’. “If you go back to the day that I walked into the job, the first thing I said to these boys is, ‘don’t do anything that lands you on the front page of the paper and nothing good ever happens after midnight. I think the misconception out there is that I run this loose ship where I want everyone out on the p*** all the time and don’t give a hoot about cricket. It couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m fiercely determined, I’m fiercely competitive. We’re going to have a good time, we’re going to grow, we’re going to enjoy ourselves. I want the best for these guys. I want to make sure that we look after them.” McCullum said.
