da luck： New white-ball leader says he will put international commitments above T20 earning opportunities
da supremo： Vithushan Ehantharajah09-Apr-20251:02
New captain Harry Brook promises an ‘aggressive, competitive’ England
Harry Brook says no amount of money will get between him and giving his all as England’s new limited-overs captain, as he pledged to put franchise cricket on the backburner for the good of English cricket.Brook, 26, was named as Jos Buttler’s successor on Monday, a role which will furnish one of the team’s premier all-format batters with extra responsibility by putting him in charge of a much-needed refresh. After a challenging period in the ODI and T20I formats, with T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy disappointments in the space of nine months, the first year of Brook’s tenure will require clarity alongside sharp improvement, with another T20 World Cup to come next February in India and Sri Lanka.Running parallel to Brook’s first year as captain are major Test series against India and Australia. A vital cog in the red-ball side – Brook is ranked No.2 in the ICC’s Test batting rankings, behind fellow Yorkshireman Joe Root – he will be integral to those challenges. It speaks to where Brook’s head is at that, even with his new role, he values success in this winter’s Ashes above lifting 2026’s T20 World Cup. The Ashes tour is viewed as integral to the legacies of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes with the Test side, with Brook fully in alignment as a senior member of the Test core, who has occasionally operated as vice-captain.Related
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“It’s the Ashes, I think,” Brook said at his Headingley unveiling on Wednesday, when asked to pick between the two. “I know I’ve taken over the white-ball captaincy, but the Ashes is the pinnacle of cricket for me still.”Already stretched across formats, something will have to give – and Brook has decided that will be franchise cricket. While in keeping with March’s decision to pull out of an IPL deal worth £590,000 with Delhi Capitals for the second year running, earning himself a two-year ban, it is a cost he is willing to bear for the good of his country.”Definitely not at the minute,” Brook said when asked if there was a figure that would make him rethink his franchise stance. “I just want to play cricket for England, represent my country like I have over the last few years and hopefully have a big impact on the side moving forward.”It’s my priority – England is the way forward for me and franchise cricket can almost take a step back for a little while. At the end of the day I enjoy playing cricket for England more than anything else so, yeah, to lose a little bit of money here and there I’d take that any day to play for England.”I haven’t completely given up franchise cricket. But in the near future, I don’t see a way with the schedule that I’m going to have much time to play on the franchise circuit.”Harry Brook chats to the media at his Headingley unveiling•PA Photos/Getty Images
Brook has yet to be informed of his IPL ban by the BCCI, but accepts it is “fair play” given the rules brought in for the 2025 season. His absence from 2024’s edition owed to the death of his grandmother, having missed England’s Test tour to India at the start of the year when she fell ill.This time around, Brook cited the need to “recharge after the busiest period in my career to date”. And though forgoing IPL riches is a luxury he can afford, with 18 months still to run on a lucrative ECB central contract – now supplemented by a captaincy bonus – the need to recuperate has merit.Since the start of last summer, Brook has played 50 matches, 38 of them spread across three formats for England, including two ICC events. Only five men, at the time of writing, have played more international cricket during this period.During this stretch, he sat out a home T20I series against Australia and the eight-match white-ball tour of the Caribbean which bled into the New Zealand Test tour at the end of 2024. And though Brook anticipates further gaps will have to be created in his schedule, finding them will be tougher as captain.England’s summer comprises six Tests (starting with a one-off meeting with Zimbabwe ahead of the India series) and 12 white-ball fixtures (against West Indies and South Africa) before an ODI tour of Ireland in late September. After two to three weeks off, a limited-overs tour of New Zealand begins in late October, ahead of the five-match Ashes, followed by a white-ball warm-up tour of Sri Lanka leading into the T20 World Cup.The vast quantity of cricket gives Brook plenty of sympathy for his predecessor, Buttler, who often led weakened squads during the busiest parts of the calendar. “It was hard on Jos. I think he didn’t really have the best players at all times, and hopefully we can have that moving on forward.”As one of those “best” players whose availability was scuppered by all-format demands, Brook’s biggest challenge will be balancing his workload alongside leadership. The Ireland series, for example, made up of three matches across five days in September, has already been earmarked as one to sit out. But Brook concedes these could provide valuable opportunities to further instil his standards and methods early in his reign.”That Ireland series, potentially [is one to miss], but I might want to play. Because it’s my first year, I might want to keep around the lads and keep them in high spirits.”It’s a lot of cricket. And I’m looking forward to it. The Ashes is going to be mega. But we’ve got a lot of cricket before that. That’s probably where the odd week off here and there, maybe missing the odd series, wouldn’t be a stupid thing.”Domestically, Brook confirmed he will play in the Hundred, as captain of Northern Superchargers, and “a game or two” for Yorkshire in County Championship in May ahead of the Zimbabwe Test, which begins at Trent Bridge on May 22. A training session at Headingley on Wednesday morning was only his second since returning from the Champions Trophy at the start of March.As for his own form, could captaincy help Brook overcome a lean patch that culminated in just 47 runs from three innings at the Champions Trophy? He certainly thinks so, pointing to last September’s five-match ODI series against Australia when, standing in for an injured Butter, he averaged 78.”This might sound a little bit stupid, but I think when you’re captain it almost wants to make you win a little bit more. That’s not me saying when I’m not captain I don’t want to win. I’m a very competitive person anyway, I hate losing at anything. Hopefully, I can bring that competitiveness and have it in a good way around the group.”
