An ECB spokesman said: “We are aware of this incident and it has been dealt with through a formal and confidential ECB disciplinary procedure. The player involved has apologized and acknowledged that his behavior on this occasion did not meet expectations.”
He was fined the maximum allowed under England’s central contract protocols, which is four per cent of a player’s deposit. For Brook it would be around £30,000.
Harry Brook during a tour of New Zealand in October.Credit: Getty Images
Brook apologized for his behavior in a statement issued in London Wire. “I want to apologize for my actions. I fully accept that my behavior was wrong and it embarrassed me and the England team.”
“Representing England is the greatest honor of all and I take it seriously and I am deeply sorry to have let my teammates, coaches and supporters down. I have been thinking about the lessons it has taught me about responsibility, professionalism and the standards expected of representing your country.”
“I am determined to learn from this mistake and rebuild trust through my future actions, on and off the field. I apologize unreservedly and will work hard to ensure it does not happen again.”
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Since receiving his final caution, Brook has endured a disappointing Ashes tour and failed to live up to his status as the world’s No.2 batsman in Test cricket. He scored just two fifties in ten innings.
During the team’s time in Wellington in late October, a group of players, including Brook, were filmed drinking at a rooftop bar on the night in question. However, the argument involving Brook was separate from that and happened later.
Players in that group, which included new England star Jacob Bethell and Gus Atkinson, did not face any formal disciplinary action.
Rob Key, England’s director of cricket, was asked about players drinking on the night before the match after reports emerged of drunken behavior during the break of the Mid-Ashes series in Noosa. At the time, he was referring to the players filmed at the bar and not the fight with Brooke.
Key said: “There was no action, like formal action. We had four years where we didn’t have any of these issues really, with any of the players. And there’s a whole process that we put in place for things like what you do when they’re out of line. And I didn’t feel like it was worthy of a formal warning. But it was probably worthy of informal ones.”
Andrew Strauss imposed an overnight curfew on the England team after Jonny Bairstow was accused of playfully head-butting Australia’s Cameron Bancroft in a bar at the start of the 2017-18 Ashes tour. This was followed by the notorious arrest of Ben Stokes in Bristol.
The curfew was unpopular with the players and management, but remained in place until McCullum and Stokes took over in 2022. They preferred to let the players take responsibility for their actions and be held accountable if they misbehaved.
Brook was named England’s white-ball captain in place of Jose Buttler in March last year and promoted to Test vice-captain for the Ashes, replacing Ollie Pope, and is being groomed as Stokes’ replacement.
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