Harry Brook anticipates that England's strategies for Test and limited-overs cricket will 'converge into one' once Brendon McCullum assumes unified control as head coach. Following his successful 'Bazball' revolution as England's Test coach, McCullum has agreed to oversee the country's white-ball teams. McCullum will not consolidate his roles until January, and with England's limited-overs captain Jos Buttler sidelined due to injury, Brook and Marcus Trescothick are currently filling the roles of skipper and coach respectively for the one-day international series against Australia. Trescothick serves as one of McCullum's assistants with the Test team, while Brook is a key batter in the aggressive game plan that has led England to victory in 19 of 29 matches under the New Zealander. Brook is gearing up to captain England for the first time in Thursday's opening ODI at Trent Bridge, and the powerful Yorkshire batsman understands the expectations McCullum has of him.
'I think it's all going to converge into one at some point. It's all going to be played fairly similarly,' Brook told reporters on Wednesday. 'We're going to have the same principles on how we want to approach the game, trying to instill that in the team before Baz takes over.' Brook added, 'I haven't spoken to him much; he's kind of left it up to me and Tres, but me and Tres are both on the same page and a pretty similar page to Baz. We want to go out there, be entertaining, entertain the crowd, take the game on, try to take wickets and put pressure on their bowlers. In the field, try to influence the game as much as you can.'
Brook did not disclose England's team to face Australia, confirming only that he will bat at four and Jofra Archer will play his first ODI since March last year as part of his comeback from an elbow injury. 'I've had no instructions; I think he's allowed to bowl his full 10 overs. Just use him as normal,' Brook said of Archer's workload.
The five-match series against Australia marks England's first ODI assignment in nine months, featuring three uncapped players and five others with fewer than 10 appearances. Brook, with only 15 ODI caps, was one of the few England players under 30 in their disappointing 50-over World Cup campaign in India last year. The 25-year-old recently faced criticism from former England captains Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook for his loose stroke-play in the third Test defeat against Sri Lanka. Responding to the criticism, Brook said, 'I want to score a hundred every innings. But it's not going to happen, is it? Professional sport is not easy, and they call it Test cricket for a reason. It is a bloody tough test. I'm just going to go out there, watch the ball as closely as I can, and play on instinct.'
