England white-ball head coach Matthew Mott has explained why Harry Brook was overlooked for a spot in England’s provisional 15-man World Cup squad but stressed the group he had picked was “provisional”.
Brooke was one of the star hitters in world football last year, getting off to a sensational start to his Test career, especially with an incredible 91.76 batting average for a 60-plus average. England’s compact international schedule has limited Brook, who plays regularly for England’s Test and T20I teams, to just three ODI appearances, all in South Africa earlier this year. For a variety of reasons, appearances at ODI were difficult for other British All Format stars last year. Neither Ben Stokes, Joe Root nor Johnny Bairstow have played for ODI in the last 12 months.
In a provisional team of 15, including 6 sailors, Brooke was ignored in favor of Dawid Maran and Jason Roy, who have excellent ODI records. Malang averaged over 50 in the format and Roy was a key member of the 2019 World Cup winning side in one of the most impressive opening partnerships in ODI cricket history. Stokes’ reversal of his retirement from ODI cricket was another factor in Brooks being left out of England’s World Cup provisional squad.
Ahead of the fourth and final leg of the T20I series between England and New Zealand, Mott was under pressure by Sky Sports Cricket to remove Brook from the World Cup qualifying group of 15. Mott told former England captain Michael Atherton: “I don’t think anyone doubts Harry’s ability. He’s a great player and what impressed me most was he wasn’t there. Here’s his reaction afterwards.”
Mott did not specifically rule out the possibility that the World Cup final squad could change.
“We still have a lot of things to sort out before choosing our starting line-up for New Zealand in India,” he added. “We’ve always said this is an interim team, and everyone gets a very good chance to show what they have.
“I think [the decision to remove Brook] comes with a great deal of loyalty. Harry hasn’t played much one-day cricket in recent years, but he’s been playing Test cricket, T20 cricket, and even world wide. But the players we’ve picked have done a great job in England in recent years and it’s always harder to get in the party than to get out of the party. And we played that card there. As I said earlier, we are a reserve army. Each team will adjust before the World Cup. And whether he’s one of those 15 or not, everyone needs to be determined to do their best. “
Brooke is currently not in the England ODI squad for the series against New Zealand, which starts on Friday 8 September.
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