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England white-ball captain Harry Brook Wednesday admitted it was "not the right thing to do" to get into an altercation with a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand, but insisted "I've learnt from my mistakes".The 26-year-old was fined £30,000 ($40,000) by the England and Wales Cricket Board after the incident in Wellington the night before a one-day international.England lost the match the next day with Brook scoring just six."I've learnt from my mistakes," Brook told reporters in Colombo where England face Sri Lanka in a three-match ODI series beginning Wednesday."I've reflected a lot and I know it wasn't the right thing to do," he said, speaking publicly for the first time about the incident on the tour that preceded the Ashes series, which England lost 4-1."I want to apologise to my team-mates, the fans and the ECB for putting them in a tricky situation," said Brook, who will lead England in next month's T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka."It will never happen again. I'm extremely sorry."Controversy dogged England's Ashes series, with allegations of poor preparations, muddled team selection and a "drinking culture" in the England camp.England players were photographed spending hours in bars during a mid-series beach resort break, with a video of an apparently drunk Ben Duckett circulating on social media.The three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka will be followed by three Twenty20 internationals, England's final warm-ups before the T20 World Cup begins on February 7.Brook said the series would be a timely litmus test for his side, who have been searching for rhythm and results."It's important to get used to the conditions, the climate and the heat," Brook said. "We are looking forward to a competitive series."England's white-ball fortunes have nosedived since their forgettable 50-over World Cup campaign in India in 2023 where, as defending champions, they failed to make the semi-finals.Since then, they have lost six of their last seven bilateral series and endured a Champions Trophy to forget, bowing out after losing all three group games."We would like to be a little more consistent, absorb pressure and stay in the game for longer periods," Brook said."Yes, we've lost a few series, but I feel we're heading in the right direction".Sri Lanka are wrestling with selection issues ahead of co-hosting the World Cup.Charith Asalanka was removed as T20 captain late last year but continues to lead the 50-over side.Injury-prone strike bowler Dushmantha Chameera has been rested for this series, while there remains uncertainty over the availability of leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga."I would have liked to have both in the team," Asalanka said."But we have to look at the bigger picture, which is the World Cup. We haven't made a final call on Hasaranga yet." 

Harry Brook has apologised for an altercation in New Zealand during the team’s white-ball tour late last year after a report ‌Thursday said the England batsman was ‌struck by a ‍nightclub bouncer after being denied entry to the venue. The Daily Telegraph report said the incident occurred on October 31, the night before England’s ‍third one-day international against the hosts. England went on to lose the match, ensuring a 3-0 series sweep for New Zealand, with white-ball captain Brook scoring just six runs in the ODI. The news is the latest setback for England’s board (ECB), ‌which is dealing with the fallout from a 4-1 Ashes series defeat in Australia and is looking into reports ‍that players drank excessively during a ‌break between Tests. “I want to apologise for my actions,” said Brook, who was the third-highest scorer during the Ashes series with 358 runs, in statement to British media. “I fully accept that my behaviour was wrong and brought embarrassment to both myself and the England team. “I am determined to learn from this mistake and to rebuild trust through my future actions, both ​on and off ‌the field. I apologise unreservedly and will work hard to ensure this does not happen ‍again.” The ECB said it was aware of the incident and that it had been dealt with through a formal and confidential disciplinary process. “The player involved has apologised and acknowledged their conduct fell below expectations on ​this occasion,” it added in a statement. ECB CEO Richard Gould said the governing body had already begun a “thorough review” of their Ashes campaign, which ended Thursday with defeat in the fifth Test in Sydney. “This will cover tour planning and preparation, individual performance and behaviours, and our ability to adapt and respond effectively as circumstances require,” he added. 

England enjoyed one of their better days of the Ashes series on Sunday when a 154-run stand between Joe Root and Harry Brook drove them to 211 for three before the opening ‌day of the fifth test was brought to a premature end at Sydney ‌Cricket Ground.Play was stopped for bad ‍light 20 minutes before tea with storm clouds threatening, and abandoned to boos from the remnants of the 49,574 ⁠crowd some 90 minutes before the scheduled ⁠close of play.At 3-1 down in what has been a mostly miserable series for the tourists, ‍nothing England can do will prevent Australia from lifting the urn in triumph at the end of the series.The sight of their two best batsmen finally combining for a meaningful contribution, however, would have brought a smile to the face of skipper Ben Stokes as well as the loyal battalion of travelling supporters.After slumping to 57-3 early on, fears of another green pitch reprising the chaos of England's consolation win inside two days in Melbourne ‌last week were assuaged when Root and Brook came together in the middle.Root brought up the 100 partnership and his 67th test half century with the same stroke to deep backward point before Brook ‍joined him on the 50-mark with ⁠a four through the ‌covers a few balls later.Brook, who had given fans a few reminders of his sometimes rash shot-choices, was 78 not out and Root unbeaten on 72 when they were called off for light."We're in very good position, obviously, three down at the end of play and hopefully we can make the most of that going into tomorrow," Brook told reporters after accumulating his highest score of the series."It was a good pitch. When I first went in, it felt like the bounce was fairly steep, but then it started to get a little bit lower and slower and it just generally feels like a good wicket out there."DIMINISHING RESULTSStokes earlier won the toss and elected ​to bat first with both teams deciding, ‌after a week of debate, against bringing in a specialist spinner at a ground once considered Australia's most spin-friendly Ashes venue."It's history, ⁠it's a long time ago," said ‍Australia assistant coach Daniel Vettori."I think you've seen over the last three years has been diminishing results for spin bowlers here, which is obviously not something that we'd like, but it's the nature of the surface."At first, the day followed the script of much of the rest of the series with Ben Duckett making a decent start with 27 off 24 balls before edging a ​Mitchell Starc outswinger behind to give the left-arm quick his 27th wicket of the series.England's other opener, Zak Crawley, survived an early scare with an edge through the slips only to be trapped in front by Michael Neser after eking out 16.Jacob Bethell followed shortly afterwards, edging a Scott Boland delivery behind for 10, to bring Root and Brook together.The match was preceded by a ceremony honouring first responders and "community members who acted bravely" during the attack by gunmen which killed 15 people at a Jewish event at nearby Bondi Beach on December 14.The ⁠unusually high level of security for the match was evident outside the ground with riot police observing the crowd as they entered the venue. BRIEF SCORESStumps England 211 for 3 (Brook 78*, Root 72*, Neser 1-36) vs Australia (yet to bat) 

New Zealand overcame a blitz from centurion Harry Brook to beat England by four wickets Sunday in the opening game of their three-match one-day international series, with Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell scoring half-centuries.The hosts wobbled chasing 224, losing four quick wickets, including former captain Kane Williamson for a first-ball duck in his first match for the side since March, but Mitchell took them home with an unbeaten 78 after being dropped on 33.Bracewell also earned a reprieve early on and ran himself out for 51 to open the door for England after the initial burst from Brydon Carse (3-45), but New Zealand got back on track thanks to Mitch Santner’s 27 and prevailed in 36.4 overs.“There was still a lot in the wicket,” skipper Santner said.“We lost a couple more than we would have liked in the chase but the intent was great ... Daryl and Michael’s partnership was massive for us.”England recovered from a disastrous start as captain Brook bludgeoned 135 from 101 balls and Jamie Overton made 46 to help their side finish on 223 all out in 35.2 overs for a fighting chance in the contest.Asked to bat first at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, England were rocked early by New Zealand’s seamers as Zak Foulkes (4-41) and Matt Henry (2-53) reduced the tourists to 56-6 within 12 devastating overs in helpful conditions.‘GREAT START’“Yeah it was tough work in the end, but I think the way we started off, with wickets in the powerplay, it’s always a great start,” Santner said.“We know Matt can do that and then Zak was outstanding, the way he swung it. It looks like a nightmare facing him. Obviously long spells, but we knew wickets were massive because even when they’re four or five down they’ve got (batsmen).“Getting Brook earlier would have been nice but he was outstanding today.”Brook went into attack mode despite the carnage around him and brought up his fifty in 36 balls with a top-edged six off Nathan Smith, before Overton took his team’s total to three figures with another big hit off Jacob Duffy (3-55).Overton shrugged off being hit on the helmet by Smith and closed in on his own half-century, but departed four runs short after a fine catch on the second attempt by Mitchell that ended the 87-run seventh-wicket partnership.Duffy removed Carse with the very next ball to leave England teetering again on 143-8, but Brook took control following Adil Rashid’s fall shortly afterwards, reaching his ton with three consecutive sixes and taking his side past 200 runs.A belligerent Brook continued to deal in big shots, swelling his tally of sixes to 11, but was snared trying to sweep Santner out of the park as New Zealand stopped the bleeding to stay on top in the series opener.“I felt I was in good touch,” man of the match Brook said.“Obviously we didn’t get off to a great start and I tried to take it up on myself to have a counter-punch. Thankfully it came off today. I’ve done it a few times actually, it’s a do-or-die moment. I managed to get us a decent score to defend. We started nicely with the ball, but we just struggled to take wickets throughout the middle.”The second game takes place in Hamilton on Wednesday, with New Zealand seeking another victory after losing the preceding rain-hit Twenty20 series between the teams 1-0.BRIEF SCORESNew Zealand 224 for 6 (Mitchell 78*, Bracewell 51, Carse 3-45) beat England 223 (Brook 135, Overton 46, Foulkes 4-41, Duffy 3-66) by four wickets