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After an embarrassing nightclub brawl, Josh Tongue speaks of learning his lessons as he aims to move on from the episode

The fast bowler, however, said the Noosa incident in Australia was totally blown out of proportion.

Updated on: Apr 2, 2026, 14:58:49 IST
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Josh Tongue is one of three England players who are under investigation by Cricket Regulator for their role in a nightclub brawl in New Zealand last year.

The last few months have not been good for English cricket. (REUTERS)
The last few months have not been good for English cricket. (REUTERS)

England white-ball captain Harry Brook is at the centre of that storm, and the up-and-coming batsman Jacob Bethell, who made a brilliant century in the T20 World Cup semifinal against India last month, completes the trio who were involved in Wellington before a one-day international.

The incident actually came to light weeks later after the Ashes early this year, and Brook was subsequently fined. Tongue wasn't even part of the squad there, but happened to be there as part of his Ashes preparations. The fast bowler recently spoke to BBC Sport and admitted they should not have been involved in an episode like that.

Also Read: How Dhoni became a hated figure: India won World Cup today in 2011 but afterwards he was vilified for undeniable reasons

"I've learned from it, and I'm just trying to focus on the cricket now," Tongue said.

"I'm just looking forward to the summer starting. We're privileged to play for England, and I can't wait to step back on that pitch if selected."

The Ashes tour was quite bad for the English team. They lost the rubber 4-1. All through the series, reports emerged that Test captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum were not on the same page.

Then all hell broke loose when it emerged that after their only win in the Test rubber, in the second Test, some of the players drank hard in Noosa, a famous holiday destination in Australia. Opener Ben Duckett was pictured inebriated, and it created a big storm in the media, and the players were taken to task for partying too early in the series.

Needless to say, England ended up losing the rest of the games in the series. However, Tongue, who took 18 wickets in three Tests with a five-for to speak of, said things were not like they were portrayed in the media.

"When it comes to the training days, we train really hard. We're human beings, and we feel like we need to get away from cricket as well, because obviously when you're playing in front of 40,000, 60,000, or even 95,000 people, you've got to switch off from the game," he said.

Tongue was also happy that McCullum got to keep his job following an investigation into the Ashes debacle. Stokes and Rob Key, director of cricket, were also retained late last month.

"I'm really happy that Baz [McCullum] is staying as head coach. I get on really well with Baz, and he gives me a lot of confidence. One of the best things he gives is that he helps you to be as high [confidence-wise] as you can be before stepping onto that pitch. That's how you're going to perform at your best - it helps me a lot," Tongue, who is all set to represent Nottinghamshire in the county cricket season opener against Somerset on Friday, said.

  • Prateek Srivastava
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Prateek Srivastava

    Prateek Srivastava is a senior sports journalist having been in the profession for two decades now. He started his print career with the India Today Group and later also worked for the Asian Age.   In 2009, sensing the wind of change, he switched to the digital media and joined Mobile ESPN. There, he covered the 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2010 Hockey World Cup as a venue reporter. He did plenty of voice-over work too, over there.   After leaving Mobile ESPN, Prateek went on to work for Cricketnext, Gocricket and Cricbuzz. At Gocricket (Times Internet Limited), he covered the 2014 T20 World from Bangladesh. There he also received a team leadership award, given at the end of the month.   Prateek has also covered the 2016 T20 World Cup in India, this time working for Sportz Interactive. He also worked for Chinese giants Alibaba over two years and led their ""Short News"" content team at UC Browser.   While cricket is Prateek’s expertise, he has also done a lot of golf. In fact, he has covered India’s first two European Tour events back in the late noughties. He has also done extensive writing on football having been associated with the Indian Super League for three seasons. Finally, Prateek is a literature aficionado and swears by Philip Roth and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and when he doesn’t joke, he is usually quiet and at work.Read More

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