Harry Brook has been formally appointed the new England white-ball captain after Jos Buttler, following a poor run in the Champions Trophy campaign.
England lost all their games in the tournament and were eliminated from the group stage after three consecutive losses.
At 26 years old, Brook is set to take the helm in both T20 and ODI formats. His first assignment as skipper will be a home series against the West Indies at the end of May, which includes three Metro Bank One-Day Internationals and three Vitality T20 matches, all of which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Cricket.
Gaining in animation, Brook had declared: "It is an honour to be selected England's white-ball captain. From my youth playing cricket with Burley in Wharfedale, my aspiration has always been to represent Yorkshire, represent England and eventually lead the country. Now being given that opportunity means the world to me."
He went on to thank the support system that has assisted him in achieving this milestone: "I want to thank my family and coaches who've supported me every step of the way. Their belief in me has made all the difference and I wouldn't be in this position without them."
Forward thinking, Brook stressed his goals for England's future: "There's so much talent in the country, and I'm excited to get going, take us forward, and work towards winning series, World Cups and big events. I'm looking forward to getting going and giving it everything I have."
Brook's elevation now appeared inevitable after he chose to sit out the IPL season with Delhi Capitals and instead concentrated on international commitments. His sole earlier experience as England captain was when he led during a five-match ODI series against Australia in September last year, filling in for injured Buttler. England lost the series 3-2, but Brook was praised for his level-headed captaincy and strategic sense.
Since his emergence in early 2022, Brook has established himself as an integral member of England's limited-over teams. He's also known to be one of England's most naturally talented batters, ranking No. 2 in the ICC Test batting rankings.
His list till date totals 816 runs from 26 ODIs with a mean of 34.00, along with a maximum of 110. In T20Is, he has represented his team on 44 occasions with a top score of 81 and had been a part of England's victorious T20 World Cup squad in 2022. He has also led the side in the vice-captain position for both the white-ball squads during the previous year.
England men's cricket managing director Rob Key welcomed the appointment, saying: "I'm delighted that Harry Brook has agreed to become England's white-ball captain in both formats. He's been on our succession planning for a while, although this opportunity has come a little earlier than anticipated."
Major added: "Harry is not just a brilliant cricketer, but also possesses a great cricketing mind and a very clear idea for both squads that will assist in propelling us towards success in more series, World Cups and big international tournaments."
Commenting on Sky Sports News, ex-captain Michael Atherton had his say: "I don't believe it was an easy decision that they made. They thought long and hard about it but I do think it is the right thing not to have overloaded Stokes. He's got a clear plan with the Test team and at 33 his body is starting to creak a bit. He's had enough hamstring strains to rule him out of a serious amount of cricket over the last couple of or three years so to add more responsibility, I don't think that would have been the best thing."
Atherton went on to say that it made sense that Brook was a regular selection in the white-ball teams, particularly given that others such as Sam Curran are not certainties to play: "At the end it's a sensible choice – the only choice they could make."
He also referred to Brook's potential: "There's no doubt he [Brook] has the talent to make a success of it as a player. As a leader, who knows? There's not much evidence, as I say."
Looking at the wider context of English cricket, Atherton referred to the impact of Eoin Morgan's successful stint: "There is a lot of white-ball talent in the English game. Partly because of the way [Eoin] Morgan drove that one-day team and the success they had. A lot of players coming into the team would have been inspired by the success of that team over a five and six-year period. There will be a lot of talent for Harry Brook to choose from."
Eoin Morgan himself weighed in earlier, voicing his support for Brook’s long-term leadership potential. Speaking to Sky Sports News, Morgan said: "If you highlight something that's in three years, four years, somebody like Harry Brook would do a magnificent job."
He remembered Brook's captaincy tour last year: "He was given the captaincy towards the end of our summer last year against a highly strong Australian side and I believed he impressed."
Morgan lauded Brook's development both as a player and as a leader: "We see Harry Brook as this unbelievably talented player that we're watching evolve and improve year on year, which is a delight to watch. But the leadership position did not appear to rest heavy on him."
He said: "The testing aspect for me was after they lost a game when I felt England played well, was just to see how they recovered as a team."
"The test is always when the team gets pushed back and for me they recovered magnificently. Came back fighting, came back punching and it wasn't reckless. It was clear, confident, calculated. For me, that's a very good sign."
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