McCullum: Media scrutiny of Brook incident is 'annoying'

Brendon McCullum has doubled down on England's handling of Harry Brook's nightclub incident, insisting it was dealt with "pretty well" and that he doesn't believe the ECB "need to release all of those findings every time something arises".

Speaking after England's T20 whitewash victory over Sri Lanka, McCullum confirmed he wished to remain as head coach going into the Test summer and that he considers Brook to be an "outstanding" leader on the field, with "work to do" off it.

Of the night out in Wellington, which resulted in Brook being punched by a nightclub bouncer before it was subsequently being revealed that Josh Tongue and Jacob Bethell had also been present and been fined by the ECB for their involvement, McCullum argued that the ongoing attention given to the story has been "quite annoying".

"I don't think we need to release all of those findings every time something arises to the media," McCullum said in relation to the Brook story that first came to light almost two months after the incident.

"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 onto them is not helpful for anyone."

McCullum confirmed that he had first been told about the incident during the ODI in Wellington that occurred the following day and that the players involved were "highly embarrassed". He also argued that the relationship that he has formed with the players led to Brook feeling able to come forward in the way that he and his team-mates did.

The story, which was first reported by the Telegraph on the final evening of the Ashes, subsequently led to a midnight curfew being put in place for England's tour of Sri Lanka. With McCullum's position under scrutiny, the introduction of a curfew, along with an increased backroom staff, appeared to be two decisions that were made outside of his usual coaching mantras.

"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 ever good 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 [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. I'm fiercely determined. I'm fiercely competitive."

Of whether he is hoping to still be head coach come England's first Test of the summer, McCullum replied: "Yes, I'd like to, because I'd like to finish what we started."

McCullum also spoke in defence of his white-ball captain Brook. Criticism of his intelligence is unfair, he argued, adding that Brook's decision to lie to the public about being alone on his night out was done to "protect his other players".

"I think he was quite keen to put his hand up when the information came that it was going to land in the media. He was hopeful that it had been dealt with internally, as we all were.

"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."

On Brook's public comments, McCullum said: "Brooky obviously was trying to protect his other players when he made that comment, I wasn't aware of that comment until I was told, because I don't read the media personally."

Despite a series of alcohol-related incidents, such as Ben Duckett being filmed seemingly intoxicated on a night out, McCullum maintained that he doesn't believe his players went "overboard at all" across the Ashes.

"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's 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 good at cricket. 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."