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Brendon McCullum insists he is not running a “loose ship” as England’s head coach and, while praising Harry Brook’s on-field leadership, believes the white-ball captain has “work to do off the field”.
McCullum was speaking to the media for the first time since the news emerged of Brook’s clash with a nightclub bouncer on the eve of the third one-day international against New Zealand last year. Brook initially told the press that no teammates were with him during the incident before it was reported that Josh Tongue and Jacob Bethell had also been fined by the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Brook subsequently released a statement last week admitting the presence of others on the night. An eventful tour of Sri Lanka for the 26-year-old – who struck a series-winning century in the third ODI – concluded on Tuesday with England’s 12-run victory in the final Twenty20.
“Harry Brook is an outstanding leader on the field,” said McCullum. “I think his tactical acumen is as good as I’ve seen in a short period of time for a young man. He has work to do off the field, no doubt, as do some of the other young lads we have in our side and that’s what happens when you come in at 20 and it’s your formative years, growing up on a world stage with spotlight, fame, fortune and pressure that comes with it.
“Obviously when we’re made aware of things that haven’t gone right we discipline and we have a stern word and we try and deal with things internally. I don’t think we need to release all of those findings every time something arises to the media. We feel like we deal with them and we’ve dealt with the processes of the last little while, I thought, pretty well.”
McCullum said he was made aware of the “full story” – that Brook was among teammates – during the ODI at Wellington in November. “The boys have made a mistake,” the head coach said. “They’re not the first ones that have ever done it. They won’t be the last ones that will ever do it. They’ve put their hand up. They’ve been disciplined. They’ve been dealt with. 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. 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.”
The incident in New Zealand was followed by scrutiny over England’s drinking during the Ashes, with a particular focus on their mid-series break in Noosa. “Noosa is where people go to retire; there was a reason why we chose Noosa,” said McCullum, when asked about his players’ behaviour in Australia. “It’s being made out as this big stag-do place. It couldn’t be further from that.
“You were trying to bring a team together, to be able to ensure that they remain super-tight as a group under the sternest of examinations out in Australia. They didn’t go overboard at any stage, in my opinion. To my knowledge, they didn’t go overboard.”
Nonetheless, Brook confirmed last month that a midnight curfew had been introduced for the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka. When it was put to the head coach that this sounded like an “un-Brendon McCullum” move, he replied: “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 ever good happens after midnight.
“I’m not against making sure that these boys are controlled in a manner. It’s not micromanagement. It’s looking after them to ensure they don’t make mistakes. The misconception out there is that I run this loose ship where I want everyone out on the piss all the time having a great time and don’t give a hoot about cricket. It couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Amid the attention on their off-field activities, McCullum and Brook’s team excelled in Sri Lanka, with a strong preparation for their T20 World Cup campaign that begins on Sunday against Nepal in Mumbai. [Tuesday night] was another brilliant example of a team which is prepared to change tactically and play the situation to what was required,” McCullum said.
“To bowl 16 overs of spin defending a low total on a surface which is having its third game on was what was required. The application and the investment from the group to acknowledge that and go all in with that strategy is immensely satisfying from a coaching point of view.”
