Harry Brook wants to move on from a "horrendous" period, after England named their lineup for their opening T20 World Cup match against Nepal on Sunday.

England named their first lineup of the tournament on Saturday, with Phil Salt fit to feature at the top of the batting order, after back spasms forced him to miss the end of their T20 series against Sri Lanka.

Luke Wood has been preferred to Jamie Overton, while there is no place for Ben Duckett, with Tom Banton taking his place in the middle order.

For the first time, the team will be led at a major tournament by Brook, after he succeeded Jos Buttler as his country's white-ball skipper last year.

But things could have been very different, as Brook was reportedly close to losing the captaincy over an incident that took place outside a nightclub in New Zealand. 

Brook – who was punched by a bouncer after an altercation – was fined and warned about his conduct after the incident, which came back into the spotlight when he admitted he lied about the involvement of other players to protect them.

 YOUR FIRST ENGLAND TEAM OF THE ICC MEN'S @T20WorldCup 2026  pic.twitter.com/8Betxj0BGT

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 7, 2026

Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of England's opening match, he said: "It has been pretty horrendous. It's not been a very nice time of my life.

"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. 

"I obviously made a mistake. I've got to try and put that behind me and focus on what's more important.

"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've got to be on virtually all the time."

England XI to face Nepal: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (c), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood.