Earlier this week, before his devastating hundred hurtled England into the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup, Harry Brook sauntered into a press conference, clocked the facial expressions of those present and suggested a smile or two wouldn’t go amiss.
Naturally, there have been times during what has been the most harrowing of winters for Brook that facing questions from the media was the last thing he wanted to do. But the jovial nature of that entrance in Pallekele here in Sri Lanka told of his desire to move on and embrace the next chapter of his England captaincy.
There is no doubt that he is in a much happier place since this World Cup began, despite the revelations on its eve that he lied about being alone on the Halloween night out that ended with him being struck by a Wellington bouncer.
There is an irony here, because without the Yorkshireman’s honest testimony – coming clean to England coach Brendon McCullum during the final one-day international at Wellington’s Sky Stadium on November 1 – there is a chance the episode might never have come out.
For the original story entered the public domain during England’s Ashes tour not because of the incident itself, but the fact he’d been reprimanded and fined £30,000 by his ECB bosses as a result. Equally, it was loyalty to team-mates Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue that led Brook, in taking responsibility and apologising for his own actions, to say that he had been on his own.
Not great optics, some will argue, and it led to further scrutiny from the outside world in the form of an ongoing investigation by the Cricket Regulator. But it has arguably strengthened Brook’s standing within the England dressing room – other players respect him. And they are increasingly his players.
Harry Brook’s attempts to protect his team-mates have strengthened his standing within the England dressing room
Brook points to the heavens in memory of his grandmother Pauline after reaching his 50-ball hundred in Pallekele on Tuesday
Over the course of his 10-month tenure, Brook’s influence on selection has shown itself with the recalls of Will Jacks and Tom Banton, two of his former England Under 19s team-mates, even if another close friend in Brydon Carse has fallen by the wayside.
Jacks has found himself in a new role at No 7, while Brook confessed at the start of this tournament that he did not necessarily have a specific position for Banton, just that he knew he wanted him in his first-choice XI. Liam Dawson was recalled from the international wilderness at the start of last summer. Surrounding himself with old friends, people with whom he shares mutual trust, has had the desired effect on and off the field.
A strong bond has developed with Bethell, the team’s unofficial vice-captain and whose adventurous nature led to walks together through leafy Kandy, seeking out the best coffee shops.
Away from the game, Brook lost his grandmother Pauline – whom he called his ‘rock’ – two years ago this month. She was someone who in typical Yorkshire style told him how things were. Berated him for bad shots. Or poor choices. Loved him unconditionally. Poignantly, he looked to the heavens in her memory when he reached three figures in Pallekele.
Guidance more recently has come from his manager Phil Weston, the former Worcestershire and Gloucestershire player, whom he acknowledged has been an ‘amazing’ support as trouble shadowed him these past few months.
Brook’s mum, Lucy, has been around too and was present for his 27th birthday last Sunday, including a ‘cake smash’ after victory over the tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka, in which Bethell appeared to take great delight in the smearing of sponge and cream into the England captain’s face.
That took place at the team hotel in Kandy where two nights later in the bar, a posse of England players, mingling happily with fans, raised glasses to the 100 that had downed Pakistan by two wickets – booking the first ticket to the final four in the process.
There is a time and a place for such things, of course, and no one would be so prudish as to deny them a chance to celebrate success three nights before what is for England a dead-rubber against New Zealand on Friday.
England are operating to a self-imposed curfew of midnight on non-matchdays during this tournament, but there has been no need for an alcohol ban, just a much more mature approach to its consumption in the light of an Ashes dogged by forensic examination of boozy incidents.
Brook smashes a straight six on the way to his 50-ball century against Pakistan
Will Jacks congratulates Brook on his ton. Brook wanted Jacks in the team and the all-rounder’s presence is a sign of the captain’s growing influence on selection
For one, there is not much opportunity for nights out in a World Cup schedule that has generally been travel, practice, play, repeat. Although they did stop off in Colombo in transit from Kolkata to Kandy last week, allowing a group of 20 and 30-somethings to act like 20s and 30-something men and enjoy some downtime.
Golf and padel have been on the agenda, but watching Brook’s mastery of the Pakistan bowling attack on Tuesday was a reminder that to him cricket always comes first.
Multiple publishers were interested in Brook writing a book this winter, charting a rise from West Yorkshire village club Burley-in-Wharfedale to a Test batsman averaging mid-50s, but he postponed it, citing a desire to retain full focus on England’s tour Down Under.
Since resuming his limited-overs captaincy, he has orchestrated five wins out of six in bilateral matches here in Sri Lanka – using the defence of just 128 in the final T20 as a reference point during team meetings for maintaining a never-say-die-attitude at this tournament.
Improvements have been noticeable both in terms of tactics and temperament: an instinct call to open the bowling with Jacks despite a competition economy rate touching 14 rushed the Sri Lankans to Super Eight defeat last weekend, while slowing his bowlers down between deliveries to regain composure proved a crucial factor in the last-ball thriller versus Nepal. Pre-match chats have not altered, with input from Brook and Brendon McCullum bookending thoughts from the floor.
But several members of the squad have reflected on the increasingly symbiotic relationship of Brook and McCullum, which would bode well for the future if the New Zealander were secure in his position.
However, the threat of post-Ashes change coincides with Ben Stokes being assigned a ‘coaching’ role with England Lions in the UAE, effectively increasing contact time with Andrew Flintoff following their partnership at Northern Superchargers last August. Such arrangements might just be coincidence, of course.
Brook calls McCullum the best coach he’s known, and immediately credited him as the mastermind behind the move to No 3 that saw him destroy the Pakistan attack.
Brook calls England coach Brendon McCullum the best he’s known and credited him as the mastermind behind the move to No 3 that saw him destroy Pakistan
Like Ben Stokes before him, the responsibility of captaincy appears to be having a maturing effect on Brook
Those close to him joke that Brook wears his intelligence lightly – Joe Root playfully dubbed him an ‘idiot’ last year. Yet his cricketing smarts are there for all to see.
Take that 50-ball hundred when in conjunction with Sam Curran and Jacks – fellow gym bunnies – the Pakistanis were run ragged on Pallekele’s huge expanses, conceding nine twos in addition to Brook’s 14 boundaries. He later joked that his 2023 self would have carried too much timber to have seen through the plan.
Like Stokes before him, the responsibility of captaincy appears to be having a maturing effect, even if there are blips – like the too-close-to-the-bone Stone Cold Steve Austin beer slam celebration marking his one-day hundred here in Colombo last month.
The thousands of supporters that flocked to Australia did so in the hope of witnessing such hundreds there, not brain fades that gifted his wicket away.
But hope remains that his first truly match-defining international innings can raise smiles until what is the very latest point on England’s winter schedule – the final in Ahmedabad a week on Saturday – seeing him emulate Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler as World Cup-winning captains.
