Harry Brook will become England’s fifth captain of the summer when he takes the armband for the upcoming five-match one-day international series against Australia. Jos Buttler has been ruled out with the same niggling right calf injury that has kept him on the sidelines since July.
Brook, who was Ollie Pope’s deputy for the recent Tests against Sri Lanka, will lead England for the first time, though he does have some captaincy experience under his belt. He led Northern Superchargers this summer and has a handful of games in charge of both Yorkshire and England Under-19s – where Will Jacks was among his teammates.
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It is a vote of confidence from an England management keen to test their young players with leadership experience – especially as it was only last November that Brook admitted he was still learning how to find “the tempo” of how he wanted to play in 50-over cricket.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity for Brooky to be the captain,” Buttler said. “He is a pretty laid-back character, but I think he has everything in line. He is a really good thinker about it … I’m sure he’ll do it his own way, and he’ll get a feel for those moments.
“That’s what we’re encouraging everyone as a side – whether that’s a player or a captain – is to try and identify those moments that you think can go a long way to you winning the game and going for it and committing to it.”
Brook’s appointment follows a patchwork season of multiple captains, with Buttler in charge during the T20 World Cup, Phil Salt for the recent T20 series v Australia, Ben Stokes in the Tests against West Indies and Pope for the Test series against Sri Lanka. And it prolongs the sense that English cricket is in something of a holding pattern until Brendon McCullum adds the white-ball job to his rota in January, with the Champions Trophy then coming up fast in Pakistan in the spring. England hope that Buttler, who has not played since England lost against India in the World Cup semi-final, will be fit for the Caribbean white-ball series in November.
As the final T20 against Australia at Old Trafford was washed out without a ball bowled, persistent rain leaving huge puddles swamping the outfield and the series drawn at 1-1, there was good news for Liam Livingstone, who hauled England to victory with both bat and ball on Friday. Initially left out of the ODI squad, he was called up in the absence of Buttler and as Josh Hull was sidelined with a quadricep injury.
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“It’s a reward for good performances and also dealing with the disappointment of being left out in a very good fashion,” the interim white-ball coach Marcus Trescothick said. “The way he approached it at the back end of the Hundred, then the preparation time in between the Hundred and this series, he’s done what you want him to do.”
Trescothick was also enthusiastic about working with Brook. “We’ve seen him in the Hundred, and I think you can see the approach that he goes about it. I don’t think it’ll be much different to what we’ve had here with Phil doing the job … they come from the mould of what we’re trying to do – which is a positive style of cricket.” The ODI series starts at Trent Bridge on Thursday – autumn permitting.
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