Harry Brook disciplined over bouncer clash before Ashes

Harry Brook was involved in an altercation with a bouncer in New Zealand ahead of the Ashes, a matter of hours before he captained the final match of England's limited-overs series.

The incident, revealed first in The Telegraph, took place on October 31, the day before the third ODI in Wellington. After being refused entry to a nightclub because he was suspected to be too drunk, Brook became embroiled in an argument with a bouncer and was struck. Brook, who is also the Test vice-captain, self-reported the incident to the team's security and was not injured by the physical contact.

An investigation saw the 26-year old fined around £30,000 by the England and Wales Cricket Board (the maximum amount), though he has been retained as white-ball captain.

Brook will travel home on Friday after England's Ashes concluded with a five-wicket defeat in the fifth Test at the SCG to confirm a 4-1 loss. He then flies out on January 19 to Sri Lanka, where he will begin preparations with his side for February's T20 World Cup. It will be his first major tournament since becoming white-ball captain in April of last year.

"I want to apologise for my actions," said Brook in a statement released via the ECB. "I fully accept that my behaviour was wrong and brought embarrassment to both myself and the England team.

"Representing England is the greatest honour of all, which I take seriously and I am deeply sorry for letting down my teammates, coaches and supporters. I have reflected on the lessons it has taught me about responsibility, professionalism and the standards expected of those representing your country.

"I am determined to learn from this mistake and to rebuild trust through my future actions, both on and off the field. I apologise unreservedly and will work hard to ensure this does not happen again."

An ECB spokesperson said: "We are aware of this incident and it has been dealt with through a formal and confidential ECB disciplinary process. The player involved has apologised and acknowledged their conduct fell below expectations on this occasion."

That the incident took place in the lead-up to a tour of Australia where England's off-field behavior has been heavily criticised asks more question of a team environment that became unified once Brendon McCullum took on the limited-overs head coach role at the start of the year.

A number of players have been drinking consistently through the tour, which came to a head during a mid-series break to Noosa. A group of them - including Brook - were pictured drinking, and video emerged of Ben Duckett appearing intoxicated and unable to get home.

Managing director Rob Key said he would investigate the events of Noosa, which has come back finding no fault with the players. It was also during this media engagement in Melbourne that Key was asked about a video that emerged of the evening of October 31 appearing to show Brook and other team-mates - including Ashes squad members Jacob Bethell, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson - drinking at a Wellington rooftop bar.

"There wasn't any action, like formal action," said Key referring specifically to the video rather than Brook's incident. "We've had four years where we've had none of these issues really, with any of the players. And there's a whole process that we put in place for stuff like that for what you do if they're out of line. And I didn't feel like that was worthy of formal warnings. But it was probably worthy of informal ones.

"I think that was a bit of a wake-up call actually for what they're going into. I don't mind players having a glass of wine over dinner. Anything more than that, I think is ridiculous, really."

England went on to lose that third ODI by two wickets, as New Zealand took the series 3-0. And they have gone on to lose the Ashes, having relinquished a shot at reclaiming the urn inside 11 days.

Brook finished as England's second-highest runscorer with 358 runs, but struck just two fifties in 10 innings, averaging 39.77.