'Not been a very nice time': English skipper opens up on 'horrendous' nightclub altercation fallout
England captain Harry Brook has spoken of the difficulty of handling scrutiny following his New Zealand nightclub altercation before the Ashes.
The white-ball skipper was sanctioned for the indiscretion and is now hoping to put it all behind him, but his lack of honesty around the situation exacerbated the reaction.
Brook got into a scuffle with a bouncer at a Wellington nightclub before lying to the media about other players who were present.
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Harry Brook of England leaves the field after being bowled by Nathan Lyon. Getty
It has since emerged that teammates Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue were with him, contrary to the 26-year-old's own statement.
Brook's incident is still under investigation, meaning he is unable to discuss the specifics of the incident, which occurred in October - but he has broken his silence on the series of mistakes, saying life has been "pretty horrendous".
"It has been pretty horrendous, to be honest," Brook told BBC Sport.
"It has just been tough. People have been able to support me around the group."
England are currently in India for the T20 World Cup, where they face Nepal in a group stage match on Sunday night (AEDT).
Brook had to make yet another apology recently after his lying about Bethell and Tongue came to light.
"It's not been a very nice time of my life. It has just not been easy," Brook continued.
"All I do is hit a ball with a bat and that's what I want to carry on doing for the rest of my career. Thankfully I'm still pretty good at that.
Harry Brook in his press conference. Cricket.com.au
"I'd rather it had not happened, but it's happened now and we've got to move forward. Hopefully things can blow over and things are brighter on the other side.
"I've definitely learned there's a hell of a lot more responsibility on your shoulders when you're captain. When you're a leader you can't take that responsibility lightly.
"You have got to lead from the front on and off the field, and anything you do can really turn against you, so you have got to be on the ball pretty much all of the time."
Brook was fined $60,000 for the incident, but was allowed to keep his mantle of white-ball captain and Test vice captain.
England coach Brendon McCullum has been forced to defend the team from allegations of a drinking culture.
Ben Duckett was criticised for a drunken night out in Noosa while the English players enjoyed some time off between Ashes Test matches.
