Brendon McCullum believes the way in which the off-pitch behaviour of England's players during the Ashes was covered was "out of order." 

England suffered a chastening 4-1 series defeat Down Under, with only 11 days of play required for Australia to clinch their defence of the urn.

And both during and before the series, several incidents involving touring players led to suggestions that McCullum was not running a tight ship away from the field.

The most notable of those saw white-ball captain Harry Brook become embroiled in an altercation with a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand, during a limited-overs tour that served as part of England's build-up to the Ashes.

Brook was fined by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), though the incident was brought back into the spotlight last week, when Brook admitted some of his team-mates were present and he hid their involvement to protect them.

But McCullum believes the ECB's disciplinary process was well-handled and there is no need for the issue to be continually brought up, saying: "I don't think there was any need to release the details until it was obviously found in the media.

"The boys have made a mistake. They're not the first ones that have ever done it, they won't be the last ones.

"The process was done internally at the ECB, which we were all a part of. We've dealt with the processes of the last little while, I thought, pretty well. They've been severely reprimanded. 

"And to be honest, I find it quite annoying that we keep going on and on about it."

England's players also enjoyed a trip to Noosa during the tour of Australia, causing the local media to suggest the team had developed a "drinking culture".

Brendon McCullum on...

 Harry Brook
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Settle in for a fascinating 10-minute chat with our England Men's Head Coach 

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Those claims angered McCullum, who said: "I don't think the boys went overboard at all. In fact, I thought a lot of the pile-on for it was completely out of line.

"It's not all about what happens on the field. If you do that, then you won't last long in this game. I feel a lot of it was completely out of order, the fallout from it or the pile-on from it.

"In the end, they're good at cricket. That's what their gift is. They're not the finished articles as people yet."

Following a 3-0 series whitewash of Sri Lanka, McCullum is currently preparing England's T20 team for the World Cup, with Nepal their opening opponents on Sunday.