Harry Brook has pulled out of the tour to India dealing England a big blow just days before the five-Test series starts in Hyderabad on Thursday.
It was announced on Sunday morning that Brook is to leave the tour for personal reasons and although the official statement said he will not return, England have privately not ruled out him rejoining what is a long tour at some point.
They have called up Surrey’s Dan Lawrence, the spare batsman throughout last summer’s Ashes series, to replace Brook. Lawrence is playing in the ILT20 in Dubai and will fly to India to join the squad after a game on Sunday.
Brook would have batted at five and after his explosive first year in Test cricket, his aggressive batting was set to be an integral part of England’s approach against India, who have lost just three Tests on home soil since 2012.
The England team have been preparing for the tour at a training camp in the UAE and are scheduled to arrive in India on Sunday, but Brook will be flying home.
“Harry Brook is set to return home with immediate effect for personal reasons from the England Men’s Test tour of India. He will not be returning to India,” said an ECB statement.
“The Brook family respectfully requests privacy during this time. In light of this, the ECB and the family kindly request the media and the public to respect their wish for privacy and refrain from intruding on their private space. The England selectors will confirm a replacement player for the tour in due course.”
Brook’s absence opens the door for Ollie Pope to return to the side without having to choose between their wicketkeepers Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow. It now seems certain that Foakes will keep in the first Test, with Bairstow moving up to No 5.
That leaves England needing to work out the make-up of their bowling attack when they see the Hyderabad surface this week. They are likely to select two of their four seamers and two of the four spinners, plus Joe Root. The uncapped pair Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir are thought to have strongly impressed on turning surfaces during the Abu Dhabi camp and are pushing for debuts. It is possible England opt to select just one seamer if they will believe the pitches will turn starkly.
In just 12 Tests. Brook has scored 1,181 runs at an average of 62 and a strike rate over 90 with four centuries. He averaged 93 on slow pitches in Pakistan a year ago when he burst onto the international scene with three centuries in five innings. He made a crucial 75 in the Headingley Ashes Test as England fought back from 2-0 against Australia and 85 as they levelled the series at the Oval.
England chose to call up Lawrence ahead of the players on the Lions tour to India now. Keaton Jennings and Alex Lees will be on hand if one of the openers, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, is injured, while Josh Bohannon provides middle order cover beyond Lawrence. Jennings and Bohannon, both Lancashire players, scored hundreds in a high-scoring draw in the first unofficial Test in Ahmedabad this week.
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