{"id":807596,"date":"2026-10-19T13:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T13:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/807596\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T13:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T13:42:11","slug":"actions-speak-louder-than-words-englands-white-ball-captain-harry-brook-relishes-responsibility-england-cricket-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/807596\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Actions speak louder than words\u2019: England\u2019s white-ball captain Harry Brook relishes responsibility | England cricket team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harry Brook is embracing leadership and responsibility as he nears the one-year anniversary of his Wellington altercation, insisting he wants to be \u201cthe man England fans and the team rely on\u201d.<\/p>\n

Brook has in the past admitted he could have been sacked as white-ball captain after being punched by a nightclub bouncer, hours before leading England in an ODI against New Zealand on Halloween last year.<\/p>\n

Since then, though, Brook has stabilised an ailing 50-over side, with England winning their last three series having lost seven of eight before then, while the T20 team sit top of the world rankings.<\/p>\n

With just under a year to go until the 50-over World Cup, Brook\u2019s ODI average as skipper is 51.3 compared to 25.2 in the rank and file and he is adamant he has grown in the last 12 months.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI\u2019ve learnt a lot as a captain, I\u2019ve learnt a lot as a person. I know it wasn\u2019t an ideal situation to put myself in, but as a captain and a leader I\u2019ve learnt a lot. Responsibilities and leadership aren\u2019t just on the field, they\u2019re more so off the field as well and actions speak louder than words.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoy the extra responsibility. I like the extra little bit of added pressure. I\u2019m not going to go out there and score runs every time I bat but I want to be the man that is in that match-winning situation who can get us over the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been a few innings where I haven\u2019t managed to do that but hopefully I\u2019ve turned that corner and I can really be the man England fans and the team rely on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brook\u2019s Test average of 53.08 is the highest among any England batter to have played at least 20 matches in more than 50 years, but former captain Ben Stokes revealed recently he told the Yorkshireman it should be as high as 65 or 70.<\/p>\n

Ben Stokes (left) believes Harry Brook should be averaging 65 or 70 in Test cricket. Photograph: Gareth Copley\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Asked what his initial reaction was, Brook replied with a laugh: \u201cI mean 65 or 70 is a massive average, isn\u2019t it, wow! Personally I\u2019m not that bothered about the stats, I\u2019ve always said I think there should be a match-winning column in your stats \u2013 that\u2019s not there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI write stuff down and I try and judge myself on whether I\u2019ve had a match-winning performance or match-winning impact in that specific game and I try and tally it up at the end of the year and see how well I\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brook\u2019s immediate focus is on England\u2019s tri-series against hosts Pakistan, whom they open their campaign against on Tuesday in Rawalpindi, and Sri Lanka, with every team playing each other twice and the top-two finishers contesting the final on Halloween.<\/p>\n

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Rehan Ahmed was overlooked in favour of fellow leg-spinner Mason Crane, more than eight years after his last appearance for England.<\/p>\n

Brook said: \u201cThere\u2019s certainly no line through Rehan\u2019s name at all. Mason\u2019s just performed exceptionally well and we think that he deserves an opportunity to be in and around the squads.\u201d<\/p>\n

The injured Jos Buttler and rested Jofra Archer are also missing from England\u2019s 16-strong contingent ahead of facing a Pakistan side who beat Sri Lanka on Sunday and are a much more of a force in ODIs than they showed in three abject losses to Joe Root\u2019s Test side recently.<\/p>\n

Brook added: \u201cIt\u2019s a great experience for us and with the potential of getting to a final, it gives us even more experience in those games where it\u2019s do-or-die. It\u2019s going to be one hell of a series.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last six to eight months and we\u2019re certainly trending in the right direction as a squad. I think we\u2019re really building towards the make-up of the side that we want.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Baz [head coach Brendon McCullum] feel like we\u2019ve got a squad where if someone does go down five minutes before the toss, we\u2019re in a position where someone else can come in and fill that role perfectly well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Harry Brook is embracing leadership and responsibility as he nears the one-year anniversary of his Wellington altercation, insisting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":807597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1721,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-807596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-cricket","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}