England head coach Brendan McCullum. Photo / Getty Images
Brendon McCullum has launched a staunch defence of Harry Brook and insisted it is wrong to believe his England team only care about being “out on the p*** all the time”.
Speaking to the media for the first time since Telegraph Sport revealed the news that Brook had been punched by a nightclub bouncer the night before captaining England in an ODI, McCullum said that criticism of players’ behaviour over the winter has been “completely out of order”.
The England head coach, who has overseen all formats since September 2024, said that he considers Brook to be an “outstanding” leader on the field, with “work to do” off it.
But he rejected claims that a drinking culture has been fostered in his England set-up and insisted it is a “misconception out there that I run this loose ship where I want everyone out on the p*** all the time having a great time and don’t give a hoot about cricket”.
England have been criticised for not revealing the full details of the incident between Brook and a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand. It only emerged that the captain had not been alone that evening when Telegraph Sport also revealed that Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue had also been fined for their involvement in the evening, and that the pair, with Brook, were being investigated by the Cricket Regulator.
At the time of that story, Brook had already spoken to the media and lied that he had been by himself that evening.
“Brooky obviously was trying to protect his other players when he made that comment,” McCullum said. “I wasn’t aware of that comment until I was told because I don’t read the media personally.”
McCullum went on to argue that the attention given to the story was “quite annoying” and that he was content with how the situation had been handled by England.
“I don’t think we need to release all of those findings every time something arises to the media,” McCullum said. “We feel like we dealt with them and we’ve dealt with the processes of the last little while, I thought pretty well.
“Others will have their own opinions … The process was done internally at the ECB, which we were all a part of. The boys were under no uncertain terms of how we felt about it but now our job is to support them.
“And to be honest, I find it quite annoying that we keep going on and on about it because these are young men who are under immense pressure and they’ve put their hand up for something they’ve been disciplined for and piling on to them is not helpful for anyone.”
For England’s tour of Sri Lanka, which finished on Tuesday, a curfew was introduced for playing staff, and the backroom staff was increased with the return of fielding coach Carl Hopkinson. Those two decisions appeared outside McCullum’s usual mantras of a relaxed environment with a trimmed-down support team.
“I think you guys need to work me out a little bit better to be honest,” McCullum said in reply. “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.
“The curfew is a different interpretation of those words that I mentioned three-and-a-half years ago.
“I think the misconception out there is that I run this loose ship where I want everyone out on a p*** all the time having a great time and don’t give a hoot about cricket.
“It couldn’t be further from the truth. So I’m fiercely determined. I’m fiercely competitive.”
McCullum also backed his captain, Brook, saying that the 26-year-old’s “tactical acumen is as good as I’ve seen in a short period of time”.
“He is a strong leader, he’s a young man but he’s got a very good head on his shoulders and I know people will say he’s not that clever. I couldn’t disagree with that more.
“He wears his intelligence lightly and he’s a very strong leader and he’s someone that they play for in their dressing room as well and our job is to just keep looking after him because he is still young.”
McCullum also confirmed that he still hopes to be England’s head coach come the first test of the summer, when England take on New Zealand in a three-match series.
“Yes, I’d like to because I’d like to finish what we started,” McCullum said.
Over the course of England’s winter, several alcohol-related incidents occurred, including Ben Duckett being filmed in Noosa where he appeared to be intoxicated. Despite this, McCullum does not believe his players went “overboard”.
“You have to be allowed to enjoy yourself as well,” McCullum said. “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.
“I mean, even in Noosa. 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, we’d have gone to the Gold Coast.
“Are we trying to operate an environment which is guiding these guys and nurturing them and ensuring we put space between the times that things happen? Of course we are. It’s never changed.
“We care about these guys and we understand that they are still young and our job is to try and nurture them through it. It doesn’t mean we’re going to get everything right either. There are going to be times where we make mistakes.
“I’ll make mistakes. They’ll make mistakes. The environment will make mistakes, but we are trying to look after them. In the end, they’re good at cricket, these lads. That’s what their gift is. They’re not the finished articles as people yet.
“They’ve got elements of maturity to still develop. That’s what we’re here to try and help them with.”