Harry Brook has played down talk of being an England white-ball captain in waiting, insisting he is focusing on Test cricket, leading the Northern Superchargers in the Hundred this summer and not expecting a change of leadership any time soon.
Rob Key, the director of England men’s cricket, is reviewing the white-ball set-up after a lamentable 50-over World Cup last winter was followed by the recent T20 World Cup in which Jos Buttler’s side reached the semi-finals but lost three of their four games against major opposition, including the eventual winners, India, in Guyana.
As well as seeking player feedback, Key is understood to have held talks with Buttler on Monday and is also due to speak to the head coach, Matthew Mott, this week. A decision on the pair has not yet been made, while Eoin Morgan said on Tuesday he has no interest in the coach role despite being linked with it.
Brook, meanwhile, is simply waiting to discover if leadership suits him after being appointed Superchargers captain by their new head coach, Andrew Flintoff. “I don’t know,” replied Brook, when asked if leading England was a goal. “This is my first captaincy role with the Superchargers, so we’ll see how that goes and then maybe I’ll have a different answer for you in a couple of months.
“For now, I don’t see anything happening any time soon. So I’ll just stay in the moment and focus on Test cricket.
“Fred [Flintoff] just asked me if I wanted to be captain [in the Hundred], he thought I’d do a decent job. So we’ll see how we go. I miss the first couple of games but I think I’ll be a fairly chilled captain. We’ve said all training will be optional. There’ll be nothing put on you as a player; just be chilled, relaxed, Go out there and express yourself and play.”
Asked whether England were due a change of white-ball leadership, the 25-year-old simply replied: “Wow. That’s way above my pay grade.”
Brook has led Yorkshire in only four T20 Blast games, two summers ago – his only experience since leading England Under-19s back in early 2018 – but it is the next 18 months for England’s men’s teams across all three formats – a veritable sardine tin of fixtures – which underline the difficulty Key faces should he decide to move on from Buttler.
After the third Test against West Indies that starts on Friday comes a break for the Hundred, then three Tests against Sri Lanka and eight white-ball matches at home to Australia. A three-Test Pakistan tour follows a week later, then eight white-ball games in the Caribbean that rub up against three more Tests in New Zealand before Christmas.
The second half of the winter features one-day internationals in India and the Champions Trophy, before five home summer Tests against India, four white-ball series, against Ireland, South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand, and then the Ashes at the end of 2025.
For a multi-format player such as Brook, completing the set looks unlikely and almost dictates that the white-ball captaincy goes to a short-form specialist unless a deputy takes over during the inevitable rest periods.
Brook is also flying in Test cricket, his average of 62.54 after 23 innings the highest since Don Bradman among players with 1,000-plus runs, and there would naturally be concerns about disturbing this form.
“I want to play every Test match I can for England,” replied Brook, when asked how he saw the next couple of years. “I don’t want to think too far ahead. The Ashes is a long way away and we have a lot of Test cricket before then. My main focus is to stay in the moment and not get ahead of myself. There will be conversations with [Key] and the head coaches but Test cricket is probably at the top of my list at the minute.”
Brook is now up to third in the world Test batting rankings after his 109 against West Indies in the series-sealing win at Trent Bridge – his fifth Test century in 14 outings but his first on home soil. The Yorkshireman is not one for histrionics when reaching three figures but was thinking of his grandmother, Pauline, who died in February. “I did it all for my grandma,” he added. “I got a bit emotional inside, I just didn’t show it.”
The innings itself underlined Brook’s immense potential. Counterattacking during a tricky period under lights on day three, he was one half of a pivotal stand of 175 with Joe Root, who made his 32nd Test century with a more watchful 122. Root is among the players Brook has looked to emulate, revealing his game owes plenty to the best he watched growing up even if forging his own identity is still the aim.
“I want to be my own batter. I want to be Harry Brook, not anybody else,” he said. “But nowadays you have to take different parts of other batters and put it into your game. There’s so many good players out there. An example is Rooty playing the ball so late, or AB de Villiers hitting all around the ground, or Kevin Pietersen for his power.
“I’ve done a little bit of that but not too much. Rooty has just gone eighth in the all-time Test runs list, so I’d be stupid to not be tapping into his cricket knowledge and learning a few things from him.”
Meanwhile, the West Indies fast bowler Jeremiah Louis has been ruled out of the third Test with a hamstring injury sustained at Trent Bridge. The 28-year-old, who did not play in the first two Tests, will remain in the UK to receive treatment, and has been replaced in the squad by Akeem Jordan.
