‘Ben Stokes is one of the best players to ever play cricket, so I can’t really complain, can I?’ Harry Brook on World Cup snub | Cricket News
England’s Harry Brook is arguably one of the best upcoming batters in the cricketing world. His talent is unquestionable and he has already shown it on the international stage in the red-ball version, what he can do when he is on full song.
Hence his omission from England’s provisional 15-man squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup in India caught cricket fans and former players surprise.
“Obviously it’s disappointing but I can’t do anything about it now,” Brook said after the London Spirit vs Northern Superchargers game in The Hundred. “You’ve just got to move on. I’m trying not to think about it anymore.”
Ben Stokes returns in England’s strong provisional #CWC23 squad 👀
Details 👉 https://t.co/npN1x8EdZM pic.twitter.com/9a5x342EZH
— ICC (@ICC) August 16, 2023
Brook though lacked experience in the 50-over format was backed many to be in the squad. However, England thinktank felt otherwise. They convinced Ben Stokes to reverse his retirement decision and squeezed him into the squad.
“I’ve not had much conversation with Matthew [Mott] or Jos [Buttler]. They said with Stokesy coming back I was probably going to miss out this time. He is one of the best players to ever play cricket, so I can’t really complain, can I?” Brook said
The 24-year-old played just three ODI’s and scored 86 runs averaging 28.67 and a strike rate of 98.85. The sample is too small to make a judgement on his calibre as a one-day player but the experience is too little. He also last played a domestic 50-over game in 2019 for Yorkshire.
Brook himself acknowledged the same. “I haven’t had much opportunity to play one-day cricket, whether that be for Yorkshire or England,” Brook said, “and although I’ve played a lot of T20 cricket, I don’t know if I’ve done as well as I have in the past in the last six months, so that might have had an effect,” he said.
Brook also had a mediocre IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2023. Despite scoring a ton early in the season the youngster tapered off as the season went on. He managed to score only 190 runs at an average of 21.11. His struggles against spin on surfaces which are on the slower side than what he is used to in England were quite evident and he would have been facing more or less the same kind of pitches in the World Cup.
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His England colleague Jofra Archer who himself was omitted from the squad due to injury concerns reacted to the absence of Brook. “I didn’t even realise that Brooky was not there… that’s just got me a bit stunned,” he said working for BBC.
Former cricketer Kevin Pieterson on the other hand, to whom Brook is often compared said he would have picked Brook over 35-year-old Dawid Malan. “I’m absolutely flabbergasted that he cannot make England’s World Cup squad,” Pietersen said on Sky Sports. “Flabbergasted. Because he is pure quality. I just cannot believe it.”
In 18 ODIs Malan made 769 runs at an average of 54.1 and has been in stunning form in recent times in white-ball cricket.
