Harry Brook is intent on learning from his mistakes at the T20 World Cup as the England batter admitted he was too overcautious in their shock defeat against Ireland.
England know another setback will see them all but eliminated and they are likely to go in with an unchanged line-up in their penultimate Super 12s game against New Zealand at Brisbane on Tuesday.
The five-run loss to Ireland in a rain-affected contest has weakened their position, with England unable to get ahead on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern before a shower at the MCG ended proceedings.
Brook shouldered some of the blame, accepting he was too passive in the middle-order and should have thrown caution to the wind earlier in his innings with plenty of batting still to come.
He holed out for 18 off 21 balls, with his struggles being followed by Moeen Ali crashing several boundaries, but Brook believes he will be better for the experience in what is his first international tournament.
“I feel like batting five is always a tricky situation,” said the 23-year-old Yorkshireman. “The other day, (being) three down in the powerplay is always tough. I was a little bit in my shell.
“I don’t think it was because it’s a World Cup. I think I was just trying to take it deep and obviously the rain caught us. But the batting we’ve got, you can always back it.
“That’s probably why I didn’t bat the way I wanted to. I could have probably taken a risk earlier knowing that we had Moeen, (Liam) Livingstone, (Sam) Curran, (Chris) Woakes and (Adil) Rashid to come.”
I'm at the start of my career and hopefully I'll play in several World Cups.— Harry Brook
Brook catapulted himself into England’s World Cup XI with several breakout performances in Pakistan before they travelled to Australia, where he has struggled to replicate his success.
In domestic and international T20s Down Under he has amassed only 82 runs in 11 innings, although he made an unbeaten 45 at the Gabba in an unofficial warm-up against Pakistan two weeks ago.
“Every wicket is different in Australia,” Brook said. “Adapting to each different wicket every time we play on a different ground is quite tricky, but it’s something I’ve got to do and get better at.”
Brook, though, is enjoying his time at the tournament and attempts to keep a level-headed attitude which means he feels equally at home in an England shirt as he does in a club environment.
“It’s just another game of cricket isn’t it – obviously it’s on on the world stage but it’s still the same ball coming down at you,” said Brook, the youngest member of England’s 15-strong squad.
“I think there’s different pressures, obviously. With it being a world competition it is a bit more pressure but I want to still play the way I do, whether I’m playing for my club side or whether I’m playing for England.
“It’s great fun. I’m playing with some of the best players in the world, trying to learn from them. Obviously, I’m at the start of my career and hopefully I’ll play in several World Cups.”
England were knocked out of last year’s edition at the semi-final stage by New Zealand, who are favourites to progress having won two of their three group matches in Australia with one washout.
The Black Caps can land a potential knockout blow on England’s hopes of unifying the limited-overs World Cups but Brook insisted he is not overthinking what victory or defeat could mean.
“Every game we’ve got to win now,” added Brook. “It’s just another game, we’ve obviously got to go out there and try and just play the game as it is.
“I don’t think there’s much point putting too much pressure on yourself. Obviously, if we do lose then we’re making it harder for ourselves, if we’re not already out the competition.”
