Harry Brook has opened up on the talks of being an England white-ball captain and insisted on focusing on Test Cricket, ending the speculations over the future of the white-ball leadership.
England men’s cricket director Rob Key has reviewed the white ball setup after back-to-back defeats in the ODI World Cup and T20 World Cup. Notably, the future of Jos Buttler as skipper and Matthew Mott as head coach are in danger as they failed to defend World Cup titles.
On this occasion, Former U-19 captain Harry Brook who is in top form in test cricket, has been considered one of the strong contenders for the role. Brook was part of the T20 World Cup squad in the USA when the side suffered defeat against India in the semi-finals of the tournament.
The Northern Superchargers captain in The Hundred 2024 season said, “I don’t know. This is my first captaincy role with the Superchargers, so we’ll see how that goes and then maybe I’ll have a different answer for you in a couple of months.
“For now, I don’t see anything happening any time soon. So I’ll just stay in the moment and focus on Test cricket.
“Fred [Flintoff] just asked me if I wanted to be captain [in the Hundred], he thought I’d do a decent job. So we’ll see how we go. I miss the first couple of games but I think I’ll be a fairly chilled captain. We’ve said all training will be optional. There’ll be nothing put on you as a player; just be chilled, relaxed, Go out there and express yourself and play.”
While asked about England’s due on the captaincy change, he replied, “Wow. That’s way above my pay grade.” Brook captained Yorkshire in the T20 Blast two years ago.
After the third test against West Indies, he will be featured in Hundred before playing the test series against Sri Lanka and the White ball series against Australia. England has well packed summer schedule for the 2024-25 season and will continue with three tests Pakistan tour follows a week later.
They also have eight white-ball games in the Caribbean that rub against three more Tests in New Zealand before Christmas. Their second half features the ODI in India, the Champions Trophy before a five-match test series against India at home.
Brook has an impressive run in Test cricket with an average of 62.54 in 23 innings. “I want to play every Test match I can for England,” replied Brook. “I don’t want to think too far ahead. The Ashes is a long way away and we have a lot of Test cricket before then. My main focus is to stay in the moment and not get ahead of myself. There will be conversations with [Key] and the head coaches but Test cricket is probably at the top of my list at the minute.”
He missed the India test series earlier this year due to Grandmother’s death. “I did it all for my grandma,” he added. “I got a bit emotional inside, I just didn’t show it.”
“I want to be my own batter. I want to be Harry Brook, not anybody else,” he said. “But nowadays you have to take different parts of other batters and put it into your game. There are so many good players out there. An example is Rooty playing the ball so late, AB de Villiers hitting all around the ground, or Kevin Pietersen for his power.
“I’ve done a little bit of that but not too much. Rooty has just gone eighth in the all-time Test runs list, so I’d be stupid to not be tapping into his cricket knowledge and learning a few things from him.”
After Sealing victory 2-0 in the series, England‘s third test against West Indies will start on July 26 at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
