In one sense the five-match ODI series between England and Australia that starts in Nottingham on Thursday is slightly lacking in wider context. Part of a trend that has seen previously lengthy visits by India and Australia broken up by way of format and spread out across the four-year cycle, it feels designed to simply keep the “Big Three” energy burning in between marquee Test summers.
Although the rivalry endures, tickets have been shifted despite autumn’s creep, and for Harry Brook, there is a bit more on it still. For one, Brook has had a slightly underwhelming international season by way of runs, not least that restless double failure against Sri Lanka at the Oval. And then on top of the chance to bank more experience against Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood before Bazball’s moonshot Ashes tour in 2025/26, there is this opportunity to further his captaincy knowhow with a similar eye on the future.
