England’s white-ball cricket will see a new chapter as Harry Brook takes over the captaincy from Jos Buttler and he has a goal to bring a fresh and fearless approach as well. After having a challenging Champions Trophy campaign that saw England exit at the group stage with three defeats in three games, Harry Brook will have a tough task to step up.
“It’s obviously a very proud moment for me and everyone who has played a part in my career, I’m looking forward to what is going to come in the future,” Brook said at his unveiling as the new England white-ball captain in Headingley on April 9 as well. “It was all up in the air for a little while, as everyone knows, I found out last week. Keysy (Rob Key, managing director of England men’s cricket) and Baz (Brendon McCullum, England head coach) both rang me up, and when they told me the news, I took it with open arms. I’m looking forward to what the future holds.”
However, England’s white-ball team will have a lot of series ahead of next year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in February, and Brook will play 12 ODIs and 15 T20s in preparation for the marquee event as well. He will also be tasked with preparing for 11 Tests scheduled between now and the end of the Ashes in early January – one against Zimbabwe, five against India and Australia each as well. And, Brook is confident that with the right mentality and environment, England can get back to form as well.
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“I think we can relax a little bit more. There was a lot of pressure on us from the outside that we were letting come inside, and it affected certain players. I would find myself coming across things I didn’t really want to see. As a group, we can try to keep the outside noise to a minimum.”
Brook, who has played 70 matches across the white-ball formats for England and served as vice-captain, shared that captaincy hadn’t been a primary goal but he is excited to embrace the opportunity as well. Despite the pressure that comes with the role, Brook knows the kind of team he wants to shape.
“I try and pick players that can naturally put the best bowlers up in the world under pressure from their best balls and the worst balls. I want people who can manipulate the field at certain stages in the game, and those who can score big runs and make really good match-winning contributions to games. I want bowlers that can work towards modes of dismissal, figure out ways to get batters out, and I want them to be able to bowl to a certain field at different stages in the game. I think you’ve got to have a certain amount of skills to be able to bowl in white ball cricket. That’s the kind of ethos that we’re going to go with,” he shared again.
To focus more on his national cricket, he recently opted out of the ongoing IPL in favour of rest and focus ahead as well. However, Harry Brook’s first assignment as captain will be a home series against the West Indies, including three ODIs and three T20Is as well.
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“Having this period after deciding to pull out of the IPL was the right decision for me. It wasn’t an easy decision, obviously, but I’ve got to try and manage my workload. I’ve played a hell of a lot of cricket over the last year and a half and it’s only going to be more going forward. I’m not sure how much franchise cricket I’ll be playing in the near future but my priority is definitely playing for England and trying to play as much cricket for England as I can,” Harry Brook concluded.
Fixtures:
ODI Series vs West Indies:
1st ODI, May 29, Edgbaston, Birmingham
2nd ODI, June 1, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
3rd ODI, June 3, The Kia Oval, London
T20I Series vs West Indies:
1st T20I, June 6, Seat Unique Riverside, Chester-le-Street
2nd T20I, June 8, Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol
3rd T20I, June 10, Utilita Bowl, Southampton
