Former England captain Michael Vaughan wasn't surprised to learn about Harry Brook's nightclub incident after the side's 4-1 defeat to Australia in The Ashes. Brook was involved in a fight with a nightclub bouncer during the side's tour of New Zealand last year in October. England lost the ODI series by 3-0 and Brook almost lost his captaincy following the incident.
Vaughan remarked that the side have been loose when it comes to their game and haven't been able to maintain a good team environment either, leading to poor results across the formats.
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“The incident doesn’t surprise me. They’ve (England team) been quite loose for a while. And I guess, you know, whether it’s consequences with shots that have been played over the course of the last three years, there hasn’t been one,” Vaughan told BBC.
“And now obviously the loose nature of this environment. The Noosa trip was fine for me, but the Noosa trip on the back of what we now know went on in New Zealand. You have to point the finger at the leadership group or the ECB, because if they knew, and then we had this incident, and then he played the next day as England captain," he added.
Vaughan's criticism for ECB
Vaughan further went on to slam the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for trying to brush the incident under the carpet when the Ashes were coming up. He further urged the ECB to take a look at themselves in the mirror and bring a change in the culture around the England team.
“You have to say that the highest level of management of the ECB have to look at themselves in the mirror, because they were clearly trying to brush that under the carpet because the Ashes were coming up. If they dealt with it there and then, it would have been a big story but out the way,” Vaughan stated.
“For it now to have broken on the back of losing 4-1 in Australia, on the back of what happened in Noosa, on the looseness of the players in terms of their discipline with some of their strokes. The whole culture around the team, the group, and the ECB as well needs to change,” he further added.
Australia claim victory in Sydney
Meanwhile, Australia defeated England by 5 wickets in the Sydney Test to retain the Ashes in comprehensive fashion. It was another disappointing assignment for Ben Stokes & Co. and they have now lost six out of their first 10 matches in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. Their form has taken a major hit and will be looking to bounce back when the Test season resumes later this year.