Brendon McCullum hits back at 'out of order' criticism of England's 'drinking culture' after cricket nightclub clash

The comments follow revelations white-ball captain Harry Brook was involved in an altercation with a nightclub bouncer during England's tour of New Zealand, with teammates Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue also receiving fines in connection with the Wellington incident.

McCullum offered a strong defence of Brook amid the controversy.

The incident came to light at the conclusion of England's 4-1 Ashes defeat, amid wider accusations of a "drinking culture" within the squad.

Brook initially apologised at the start of the Sri Lanka tour, claiming he had been out alone on the night in question.

However, the captain was subsequently forced to issue a further statement acknowledging this was untrue, following reports Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue had also been fined.

McCullum confirmed he was aware of all players involved in the Wellington incident by the following day.

McCullum said: "I don’t think there was any need to release the details until it was obviously found in the media.

"The boys have made a mistake. They’re not the first ones that have ever done it, they won’t be the last ones.

"The process was done internally at the ECB, which we were all a part of. We’ve dealt with the processes of the last little while, I thought, pretty well. They’ve been severely reprimanded.

"And, to be honest, I find it quite annoying that we keep going on and on about it."

He added: "Brooky obviously was trying to protect 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. Harry’s trying to look after his mates.

"He is a strong leader, he’s a young man but he’s got a very good head on his shoulders.

"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 someone that they play for in their dressing room.”

The England and Wales Cricket Board is investigating the winter, with a focus on behaviour, after a string of incidents, including Ben Duckett being filmed seemingly worse for wear during a Noosa trip, which was accused of resembling a "stag do".

McCullum added: "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. 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 and we wanted a lair up, we would have gone to Gold Coast. It’s not all about what goes on on the field. If you do that, then you won’t last long in this game. Again, I feel a lot of it was completely out of order, the fallout from it or the pile-on from it.

"In the end, they’re good at cricket. That’s what their gift is. They’re not the finished articles as people yet.”

A midnight curfew has been introduced for the players while in Sri Lanka and at the upcoming T20 World Cup.

McCullum said after the series Down Under he was keen to remain in charge, depending on the changes imposed.

He said: "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 good ever happens after midnight’.

"I think the misconception out there is that I run this loose ship where I want everyone out on the p**s all the 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. We’re going to have a good time, we’re going to grow, we’re going to enjoy ourselves. I want the best for these guys. I want to make sure that we look after them."

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