After being unveiled as England’s new white-ball captain, Harry Brook felt the team has the potential to rediscover their spark with the right mentality and environment. Brook took over from Jos Buttler after the latter stepped down following the team’s forgettable campaign at the ICC Champions Trophy in February.
“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,” he said.
Brook, who has made 70 appearances across the white-ball formats for England, and served as vice-captain, revealed that captaincy hadn’t been a primary goal but is excited to embrace the opportunity. Despite the pressure that comes with the role and taking over from Buttler, who led the team to the T20 World Cup triumph in 2022, Brook is clear about 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,” he said.
“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 added.
England’s white-ball team will be busy ahead of next year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in February, and Brook will look to make the most of his new assignment as the team features in 12 ODIs, and more importantly in 15 T20s in preparation for the marquee ICC event.