Harry Brook: England white-ball captain on being punched by bouncer in New Zealand
England head coach Brendon McCullum, director of cricket Rob Key and Test captain Stokes have previously rejected suggestions of a drinking culture, and Brook reiterated this on Wednesday.
However, England have now imposed a curfew, meaning players and staff must return to hotel facilities by midnight.
“This was made as a group decision,” Brook said. “We think the best thing going forward for now is to put us in situations where we can win cricket matches and perform to the best of our ability.
“I don’t know how it is in other sports, but in rugby, football and similar sports it’s probably a lot stricter. I think it’s fair enough for now.”
Brook was promoted to vice-captain of Stokes in the Test squad for the Ashes.
The versatile Stokes has faced similar difficulties before when he was involved in a fight outside a nightclub in Bristol in 2017. Stokes was later charged and cleared of the controversy but missed the 2017-18 Ashes tour as a result of the incident.
“Obviously he wasn’t too happy with what I did, but he tried to help me get over it,” said Brook of Stokes’ reaction.
“He knows exactly what it feels like to be in that situation. We had a few conversations but quickly moved on from that and tried to look forward to the Ashes.”
After England’s Ashes campaign was disrupted by dropped catches, they employed a fielding coach for the three T20s in Sri Lanka and the subsequent World Cup.
Carl Hopkinson, who left the squad when McCullum takes control of the white-ball team at the end of 2024, returns on a short-term basis.
Zak Crawley will make his debut against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, earning his ninth ODI cap and first in over two years.
Brook also confirmed that 22-year-old Jacob Bethell will take charge of England’s white-ball teams if he is unavailable.
Bethell became the youngest man to captain England when he led the team in the T20 series in Ireland in September and scored his first Test century against Australia in Sydney.
