England head coach Brendon McCullum has backed Harry Brook’s handling of recent controversy while describing his white ball captain as still developing away from the field.
Brook received a £30,000 fine from the England and Wales Cricket Board and a formal warning over his conduct after an incident involving a nightclub bouncer in Wellington on the eve of a one day international against New Zealand in November. England lost that match by two wickets and went on to suffer a three nil series defeat.
The matter only entered the public domain in January as England endured a 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia. Brook had initially stated he was alone on the night out. Over the weekend he admitted he had lied to shield team mates Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue, who were with him in New Zealand and are now under investigation by The Cricket Regulator, the independent body with authority to pursue bringing the game into disrepute charges.
Brook retained the captaincy of England’s limited overs teams after the incident and led a strong response on tour in Sri Lanka, guiding the side to a two one victory in the one day international series and a three nil clean sweep in the T20s.
Speaking after England sealed victory in the final match of the series on Tuesday, McCullum said: “I thought Brooky was sensational with his tactics throughout both series.
“He’s had a hard time of late off the field, but he’s a tough lad to be able to put that aside and still lead these boys in the manner that he did, and show the tactical nous that he has as a cricketer was outstanding.
“I do sometimes think that people think that Brooky’s not that clever. I couldn’t disagree with that more. He wears his intelligence lightly. He’s got a very good tactical cricket brain.
“He’s a work in progress off the field. He’s not alone with that, and that’s our job to help shepherd him through. But on the field, he’s certainly excelling at the moment.”
England open their T20 World Cup campaign against Nepal on Sunday, with Bethell and Tongue both included in the squad travelling to India.
McCullum’s own position has been the subject of scrutiny after England’s poor Ashes showing, with questions also raised around management’s handling of the Brook situation.
He said: “He’s a tough lad, Brooky. He put his hand up, tried to protect his boys as well. Obviously, we’d dealt with everything in the manner that we thought was required internally, and he was disciplined and the boys were disciplined, and obviously, very stern words spoken.
“But from there, it’s been about trying to support these lads. And Brooky’s been absolutely brilliant to be able to own up to things, put his hand up, and still cross the line into the arena and not lose his confidence or be distracted by things going on.”
McCullum also stressed the importance of safeguarding players’ mental health within an international calendar that leaves little downtime, particularly for players such as Brook who operate across all formats.
“Cricket is such a unique game because it’s 12 months of the year,” McCullum said. “It’s not like any other game, you have to be up for 12 months year on year on year.
“It can be challenging mentally for a lot of guys, and cricket’s got a history of issues in that space. So, our job as leaders and our job at English cricket is to make sure we look after these boys.
“Yes, discipline in times where mistakes have been made, but from now, it’s about looking after them and protecting them and trying to make sure that we put space between those times.”