Brendon McCullum has relaxed the new drinking rules imposed on England players following their 4-0 T20I series win over India. McCallum, the England head coach, urged his team to “feel the warmth of success” and said he was glad they would have a beer on Saturday night “before anyone gets on the front page”.Earlier this year, England officials imposed a midnight curfew after tours to New Zealand and Australia were marred by revelations about player behavior, and ECB officials were furious when Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson immediately broke it while celebrating England’s victory in the first Test of their home summer against New Zealand at Lord’s.
But an investigation into Stokes and Atkinson’s trip to the Rex Rooms nightclub in Chelsea, where Atkinson was involved in an altercation with a Saracens rugby player, revealed details of the curfew were unclear. Rather than blaming the players for violating the curfew, the ECB said they had “violated specific contractual obligations.”
England players were sent fresh advice on the team’s alcohol policy later in the Test series, published by the publication Telegraph on Friday. It included a “no alcohol” recommendation between the day before and the day after a match, and a clause that would allow McCallum and managing director Rob Key to override the advice.
England’s 56-run win over India at Southampton – which took them to number one in the ICC T20I rankings – provided the first real opportunity to do so, and McCullum confirmed after the game that he would relax the rules to allow his players to celebrate with a beer on Saturday night if they wanted.
“Not a lot of our guys actually drink to begin with,” McCallum said, “but anyone who wants a beer can have one, yeah. There are rules. People are very aware of the rules.
“I have full confidence in the players. All the information is here. You should still feel the warmth of success and if you like beer then tonight is a great opportunity to have fun – as long as it’s reasonable and not excessive – and let whatever you’ve achieved in the last ten days or so sink in the way you want it to.”
“But everyone is well aware of this (guidance) and I think we’ll have a quiet beer and just let it land – as long as no one gets on the front page.”
Harry Brooke played a big role in England’s 4-0 series win over India.•Getty Images
McCullum said on Sunday that Brook, England’s white-ball captain and a contender to replace Ben Stokes as Test captain, had shown “tremendous” growth since the incident and that their relationship had “moved to the next level” in the intervening months.
“He probably didn’t quite understand the position he had in the game and English cricket and the responsibility that came with that,” McCallum said, adding: “Sometimes that’s the kind of mistake someone can make. He acknowledged that he has grown a lot since then and has a significant future ahead of him as a leader in English cricket.”
McCullum refused to answer a specific question about Brook’s ability to lead England in all three formats, saying he was “hesitant” to detract from the team’s T20 success. But he praised Brook’s efforts as captain against India and likened their relationship to that of a father and son.
“I don’t just consider him a good friend, I feel like he’s almost one of my sons,” McCallum said. “He hasn’t always done everything right and made mistakes off the pitch, but the growth we’ve seen in him over the last 12 months or so has been huge.
“He’s very respected in the dressing room as a leader, as a tactician and obviously as a player, but he’s growing at an incredible rate and I really enjoy working with him. I feel like we can get the best out of each other and I’m sure that will continue to be the case in the future.”
McCullum also praised England’s performance throughout the T20I, which comes on the heels of a terrible month on and off the field that culminated in a 2-1 Test series loss to New Zealand and Stokes’ retirement. “Obviously the Test matches didn’t go the way we wanted and it was quite noisy,” he said.
“(A 4-0 win) brings a lot of satisfaction, so a week is a long time in sports. Things can change quite quickly, and the main thing is to try to remove emotions from what is happening from time to time, but at the same time look at the work and the task at hand. I think the guys handled it brilliantly.”
Matt Roller is a senior reporter at Cricinfo. @mroller98