The most surprising fact to emerge from an apologetic Harry Brook in his press conference on Wednesday was that he only told England halfway through the ODI in Wellington that the night before he had been punched by a bouncer while trying to enter a nightclub.
It is hard to imagine how that conversation went. Did he bring it up when England were 55 for four and he had just been dismissed for a laboured six off 11 balls, no doubt feeling a bit worse for wear after a night on the town? Or was it during the innings break when discussing how to defend a total of 222 to avoid a whitewash (which they failed to do)? Or was it after officials with the England team spotted on Instagram a video of the players drinking the night before the ODI and started asking questions? None of this would probably have emerged had that supporter who recognised the players not put on social media the clip of the lads enjoying a few beers before the start of the following day’s day-nighter.
Officials at home in the UK only found out because of the time difference with New Zealand, after the ODI in Wellington had started and so had no opportunity to suspend Brook from the game. If Brendon McCullum also only became aware of it once the game was under way – as Brook suggests – then it shows the general lack of control over the players and their lack of respect to think it was OK to be out that night. It is a loosening of standards that eventually crept into performance.
Brook says he was on his own, again posing questions about the culture and why his team-mates left him in the early hours of the morning trying to get another beer. Where was the security the England team take on tour? This could have been a lot worse for England’s white-ball captain than merely being “clocked” by a bouncer, as he put it.
When asked if he was lucky to keep the captaincy Brook replied “probably slightly, yeah”, which is an understatement to say the least. But despite the contrite words and apologies there was the hint of disappointment the story had come out in the first place, and attempts to hush it all up failed when Telegraph Sport revealed what had happened to Brook.
“I didn’t think it would ever come out and obviously we got struck with it after the last Test match,” he said. He revealed he apologised to his team-mates in Sri Lanka this week, but what was he saying sorry for? Surely they all knew what had happened in Wellington at the time. Gossip spreads fast among teams on tour. There is no way that would have stayed quiet. Was it more of an apology for it all becoming public knowledge and turning up the heat on everyone else?
The full story of what happened is still murky. “I’m not going to go into any details,” was his first answer to the opening question and he had a couple of weeks at home to rehearse with officials from the England and Wales Cricket Board about what he was going to say. He now has the opportunity to prove he means what he said when he admitted he made a “terrible mistake” and will learn from it.
Brook is a talented cricketer and it was right not to sack him as captain. He can mature through this experience and it becoming public may help him in the long run understand the responsibilities that come with being an England captain. Brushing it under the carpet at the time did him no favours and that is something for the ECB to learn from, too.
I have always felt there is a lot of the young Ben Stokes in Brook. Neither is academically gifted, but Stokes matured to show a streetwise and emotional intelligence beyond many of his private school, better-educated colleagues. Brook, like Stokes at the same age, is a man of few words but uses direct language that makes him relatable compared to a media-trained robot. He said he was not “leathered” the night he was “clocked”. In Australia he said the players had a “belting” time in Noosa, an unfortunate choice of language considering what happened in Wellington, but at least he talks like a normal 26-year-old. You want him to retain some of that.
Stokes used his setbacks and public embarrassment at the same age to his advantage in the long run. There is no reason why Brook cannot do the same thing and I am sure he meant what he said in wanting to make it up to England and the supporters.
Getting back on the field so quickly after the Ashes may be physically and mentally challenging, but it gives an opportunity to rebuild his reputation with the bat. It was not long after his Bristol court case, in which he was acquitted, that Stokes had his unforgettable World Cup final and Headingley Ashes performances of 2019. Brook is good enough to produce similar magic, and England need it after such a miserable few months.