Fans have ‘every right to be annoyed’ – Brook

On the day of England’s Ashes tour, Harry Brook claimed that supporters had “every right to be irritated” by his behavior following his incident with a nightclub bouncer.

Brook, England’s white-ball captain, was involved in the altercation the night before the third one-day international in Wellington on 1 November – a game England lost.

Although the incident and punishment only became known more than two months after England’s final series defeat Australia in Sydney, which ended with a 4-1 defeat, were he fined and given the final warning for his conduct.

England’s tour of Australia was criticized for its preparation and approach, particularly for the drinking that occurred while Brook was one of the players photographed in bars during a vacation in Noosa.

Players and staff are now subject to a midnight curfew, which has come into effect on the tour of Sri Lanka.

Brook had a 358th place run-scorer for England, but the 26-year-old was still far behind his best, passing only twice and frequently suffering rash strokes.

When questioned by BBC Sport about how angry supporters were with England’s performances and off-field incidents, Brook responded, “Definitely. They have every right to be annoyed. I’ve done a terrible mistake.

I should have avoided doing something wrong by placing myself in this situation. Did it affect my cricket? Not in my opinion. I would have continued to play this way. Obviously, I didn’t get a score that I’d have liked, but I still played the same way.

“I’m sorry to everyone who supports what I did in New Zealand. I have to try to win back their confidence in my ability both on and off the field. I’m hoping that they can expect I’ll be slightly different away from the game. I’ll be more knowledgeable.

In Colombo, Brook is helping England win their first one-day international against Sri Lanka, which kicks off on Thursday.

The Yorkshire batter said: “For the first time since the New Zealand incident was made public, the Yorkshire batter said:

Brook was placed in charge of England’s white-ball teams last summer – the tour of New Zealand was his first overseas as captain.

He claimed that the Wellington incident started with some players going out for food, even though he said he did not want to “delve into any details” of it.

He said, “There was no intention of going out, no intention of putting ourselves in a difficult position.”

” I took it upon myself to go out for a few more and I was on my own there. I was not supposed to be there.

The bouncer simply clocked me as I tried to enter a club, regrettably. I wouldn’t say I was absolutely leathered. I had too many drinks, I thought.

Brook said it was “late enough,” but he did not give an exact time for his return to the England hotel. The following day he was out for six as England slumped to 44-5 in a game they eventually lost by two wickets.

He reported the incident to England management about halfway through the game in Wellington. After the disciplinary proceedings were over before the Ashes tour, he was given the final warning and a fine of around £30,000.

When asked if he expected to be sacked, Brook replied: “It was definitely playing through my mind”.

After the final Ashes Test, Brook apologized in a statement issued afterward and apologized to supporters in Colombo. He also offered a further apology to his team-mates on Tuesday.

He stated, “I still have some work to do to try to win back the players’ trust.”

“It was necessary for me to apologize for my actions. It’s not acceptable as a player, but as a captain it’s really not acceptable to do what I did in New Zealand. My hands are raised.

Between the second and third Ashes Tests, England had already gone 2-0 up in the series when they spent time in the beach resort of Noosa.

Brook was one of a number of players pictured drinking during the four-night stay on the Queensland coast. Opening man Ben Duckett appeared drunk and unsure of how to get back to the team hotel in a video that a member of the public captured and made available on social media.

Despite the Brook incident, England continued to travel. Asked why he was happy to be seen drinking in public after the trouble in New Zealand, Brook said: “We weren’t exactly happy to be photographed. Every second, we were checking to see if there was a camera nearby.

In the beginning, we were drinking responsibly. Other than that, we were completely in control of what we were doing. Nothing was inappropriate; we were just going out and drinking.

Brook might be the only player to feature in every game of England’s winter, including those against Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka, which kicks off next month.

While he said he has to be able to” relax away from the game”, it was put to him there could have been others way of doing that in Australia, aside from drinking.

He claimed that it wasn’t just drinking. We weren’t just going out and getting leathered every day. We were having a few drinks here and there.

According to Brook, England’s director of cricket Rob Key, Test captain Stokes, and England’s director of cricket Rob Key have previously refrained from suggesting a drinking culture.

However, England’s current curfew has been put in place, making it necessary for guests to leave by midnight.

“That’s been made as a group decision”, said Brook. We believe that for the time being, putting us in situations where we can win games of cricket and perform to the best of our ability is the best thing to do.

“I don’t know what it’s like in other sports, but rugby, football, and other similar things are probably much stricter.” For the time-being, I think it’s fair enough. “

Brook joined the Ashes’ Test team as Stokes’ vice-captain in the offseason.

Stokes, an all-rounder, has faced similar hardship in the past, including an altercation outside of a Bristol nightclub in 2017. Stokes was subsequently charged with and cleared of affray but he missed the 2017-18 Ashes tour as a result of the incident.

He obviously wasn’t the most appreciative of what I had done, but he made an effort to get me through it, Brook of Stokes’ response.

He is “absolutely aware of what it’s like to be in this circumstance.” We had a few conversations, but we quickly moved on from that and tried to look forward to the Ashes. “

After England’s Ashes campaign was hampered by dropped catches, they hired a fielding coach for Sri Lanka’s three T20 matches and the subsequent World Cup.

Carl Hopkinson, who left the set-up when McCullum took over the white-ball team at the end of 2024, makes a short-term comeback.

Zak Crawley will open the batting against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, winning his ninth ODI cap and first for more than two years.

If Jacob Bethell, 22, is ever unavailable, Brook also confirmed that he would take over England’s white-ball teams.

When Bethell led the team in a T20 series in Ireland in September and scored his first Test century for Australia in Sydney, he became the youngest man to lead England.