‘Can’t be right’: Legend’s scathing assessment of Brook drama, calls for ‘leadership’ changes

Cricket legend Michael Vaughan has launched a scathing assessment over England’s handling of Harry Brook’s ugly pre-Ashes fracas in New Zealand.

Brook was placed on a “final warning” just before the Ashes when involved in a skirmish with a nightclub bouncer before an ODI against NZ. He was fined, but wasn’t suspended by the ECB.

During the Stars-Renegades BBL clash, Vaughan was asked about the incident and the subsequent handling of the England vice-captain’s actions.

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“The ECB pushed it under the carpet,” Vaughan told Fox Cricket.

“They said they threw the kitchen sink in with a fine, but for it to have come out just a couple of days ago on the back of a poor Ashes series where performance levels have been indifferent, the loose nature of the preparation has been a big question mark about the team.”

Fellow Fox Cricket commentator Mark Howard suggested England didn’t disclose the Brook incident and sanction to avoid derailing the start of their Ashes campaign.

Vaughan responded: “My experience from these kinds (of incidents) is you’ve got to hit the nail on the head at the time it happens, because once it comes out afterwards, ‘why did they brush it under the carpet’?

“So the England captain was able to go out the night before have a fracas with a bouncer then still play – probably on the same day. That can’t be right … He should’ve been suspended for that game. Then you deal with it there and then.”

Vaughan said the lack of transparency around Brook brought other aspects of England’s tour into question, especially the boozy trip to Queensland hotspot Noosa following the second Ashes Test at the Gabba.

“I had no problems with Noosa, but I do have a problem with Noosa on the back of them hiding something in New Zealand that they didn’t tell us about,” he said.

“So clearly there’s a lot of conversations to be had and understanding of what is right and what is wrong.

“When I see things like that and hear things like that, I always go: ‘What don’t we know?’

“I think there’ll be a lot of conversations over the next week or two about the leadership group – and that goes right to the highest level, because the CEO and the chairman of the ECB would’ve known about that.

“I get your point in terms of trying to hide it from the Ashes because you don’t want it to derail you, but you could probably argue it did derail the Ashes – because it wasn’t sorted there and then and players had this loose nature for a good few weeks.”

Conversation then shifted to whether the leadership group, including coach Brendon McCullum, captain Ben Stokes and Brook had to come under fire for what went down.

In Vaughan’s eyes, Brook wasn’t dealt with harshly enough, even suggesting changes should be made to the leadership group going forward when pressed by Howard.

“Do you think the current leadership group should continue?” Howard asked.

“I don’t think they should continue after the Harry Brook situation,” Vaughan responded.

“Because someone isn’t going to be made accountable for losing another Ashes series and then on the back of what we now know, what makes you accountable?

“Someone has to be made accountable for so many mistakes, preparation and the tactics for the tour.

“It’s (the team culture) been the same for two or three years now – whether they like it or not, that’s been the case.

“It’s quite a loose operation and there’s not been consequence for performance or shots that have been played throughout the last two or three years.

“And that’s not a big enough consequence for me when the captain (Brook) does what he does the night before a game. I’m sure the leadership group will look back at that and think ‘we should’ve dealt with that differently’.”

The panel continued to discuss McCullum’s job security, with Vaughan turning his attention to the on-field results of the ‘Bazball’ era.

“In the four years McCullum has been in charge, there’s a good argument that he’s made them a much better cricket team than the cricket team he took over from,” Howard said.

“Yeah at the start but they haven’t won a five match Test series. They’ve drawn at home to India, home to Australia 2-2 and then they lost 4-1 to India away and 4-1 to Australia (this past series),” Vaughan explained.

“The first 18 months we surprised so many teams, no one knew how to play against us. The next 18 months, the good teams worked us out. The England side have not adapted.

“I’m more than happy if Brendon McCullum’s willing to accept that change is required. We’ve been far too loose for too long.”