Maiden ODI century proves an apt retort after criticism of his previous comments in defeat
Vithushan Ehantharajah24-Sep-2024A look to the heavens before a puff of the cheeks. A “fookin’ ‘ellll” exhaled out the side of his mouth. Harry Brook’s reaction in the 34th over of England’s chase said it all. Who cares? He does.The relief flowed after his maiden ODI century, a feeling you could apply more broadly to the last week, his central part in it and the situation his team faced at the Seat Unique Riverside. After two humbling defeats, England were well on their way to winning this third ODI in Durham. And a cricketer who perhaps did not realise how sapping ODI captaincy could be – “I was actually knackered when I got out there after 50 overs in the field,” he said at the end – finally got to experience being the lesser stressed of the two leaders.There are caveats of course, though nothing to do with rain taking the players off in the 38th over of England’s pursuit of 305. Brook and Liam Livingstone had begun munching through what was left, and the 51 left on the table was set to be devoured in about half of the 74 balls left. They were 46 ahead on DLS at the break in play.Australia rested Travis Head, which lent itself to a subdued start – they struck just nine boundaries in the first 25 overs – before a late flurry shifted their total to 304 for 7. Adam Zampa’s illness robbed them of an X-factor, with the full-time ‘part-time’ offspin of Glenn Maxwell and Matthew Short combining for three forgettable overs. A healthy amount of legspin would have broken up the monotony of seam that England managed easily through the middle overs as Brook and Will Jacks flourished having come together at 11 for 2. “It’s always a different team when Adam Zampa is not there,” Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald said after the match.Brook also won his third consecutive toss, and though that hadn’t helped at Trent Bridge or Headingley, conditions at Chester-le-Street were conducive to bowling up top. But it turned out to be the first of several correct calls in what turned out to be an accomplished day out for the 25-year-old.Brook admitted he’d found his early experience of the captaincy a bit ‘frantic’•Getty ImagesBefore he starred with the bat, Brook showed a decent amount of cunning in the field. Perhaps the best of it was using an unusually narrow and close mid-on to remove Cameron Green, breaking a stand of 84 with Steven Smith, who was essentially shielding the fielder – Matthew Potts – at the non-striker’s end as Jacob Bethell twirled his left-arm orthodox from around the wicket.”There wasn’t much turn and Beth was kind of just sliding it on,” Brook explained of the unusual placing. Granted, Green did not need to charge down and slap the ball straight to Potts – which Brook acknowledged in his own way. “It was a little bit of luck, to be honest, I’m not going to take the credit too much. But that’s nice to see, when you do make a change and it works straight away.”Another tweak saw the back of Marnus Labuschagne for a duck. The Australian No.5, keen to get off the mark while being denied options down the ground, attempted to find relief with a scoop off Jacks. A ricochet off his grille gave Jamie Smith a simple catch behind the stumps.Despite some sound marshalling of the attack – particularly Brydon Carse, who bowled better than figures of 1 for 55 suggest – things did unravel for Brook at the end of Australia’s innings. Alex Carey’s acceleration and Aaron Hardie’s introduction saw 104 scored off the last 10 overs, with a startling 55 coming from the last four. England looked a seamer light – specifically, an allrounder, and it was some comfort when their most exalted of that breed spent the interval telling Sky he would be more than willing to return when he is inevitably asked.Winning helps of course, but Brook regarded this as an altogether more comfortable outing as captain. “Progressively it’s got more enjoyable. The first game I felt a little bit frantic, at times. But as the series has gone on, I’ve felt a lot more chilled.”It certainly looked that way as far as his batting was concerned. A devastating unbeaten 110 – three figures brought up in just 87 deliveries – breaks a 16-innings streak without a century across all formats, domestic and international. There have been just two half-centuries – for Northern Superchargers against Manchester Originals and in the first innings of the first Sri Lanka Test – since his fifth Test hundred against West Indies at Trent Bridge in the middle of July, among eight other double-figure scores.Related
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There were some welcome hallmarks of the Brook that England fans have come to expect. He explained his success as a case of keeping his head “as still as possible”, watching the ball and playing it late – traits which, to be fair, were abundantly clear today. But there were also the characteristic impulsive streaks.The first time he used his feet was to carve Josh Hazlewood over backward point in the ninth over. He greeted the first deliveries of Maxwell and Short with lofted drives over extra cover, for four and six respectively.In Jacks, he had an ally willing to keep pace, and even sprint ahead. The pair tag-teamed Mitchell Starc in the 23rd over, handing the left-arm quick his third most expensive over in ODIs (19). By the time their stand was broken for 156 – Jacks slicing to point for 84 – the ask was a manageable 138 from 135 deliveries. Brook seemed intent to drive, cut and scoop his way through that figure, eventually having to make do with 40 of the 87 England hacked off before the rains came.”He’s an impressive player,” McDonald said. “He’s going to have a long career for England, and he’s going to give us some headaches along the journey.”You could call this a statement knock of sorts. Two-fold, perhaps. The first being that it gave Brook the chance to clarify comments made after the first ODI. “If you get caught somewhere on the boundary or in the field, then who cares?” was the utterance in question, leading to widespread derision from fans and pundits alike.”I think people took that a little bit the wrong way,” he said. “You’ve got to go out there and play fearlessly and almost have that ‘who cares’ attitude. That’s not a ‘who cares if we lose attitude’ – we still want to win. But you don’t want to go out there and have that fear of getting out.”You could see what he meant at the time, but Tuesday’s knock – studded with 13 fours and two sixes – acts as a handy guide to make it crystal clear. This was Brook leading from the front, in a familiar sweet spot of showing just how much he cares through not caring the right way.
