Harry Brook still has a chance to secure a spot in England’s final squad for the World Cup, according to white-ball captain Jos Buttler, who mentioned that he is still considering the Yorkshire player.
Initially left out of the group set to travel to India, Brook faced competition from Test skipper Ben Stokes, who decided to play as a specialist batter after coming out of his ODI retirement last week. While Stokes is expected play the role of England’s trump card, the case of Yorkshireman Harry Brook is quite different.
On Tuesday, Brook played a spectacular innings in the Hundred, smashing the fastest century of the tournament in 41 balls. Earlier last week, Brook said that he was disappointed with not being selected in the World Cup squad and on losing his place to Stokes, he said, “He [Stokes] is one of the best players to ever play cricket, so I can’t really complain, can I?”
England has until September 28 to finalize their 15-player World Cup, and Harry Brook made a remarkable impression by scoring a century in just 41 balls for the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred this week. Things could change pretty quickly because Brook, at this moment, is one of the finest and natural talent in world of cricket.
Buttler is sticking with the decision made last week, but he hinted that he hasn’t completely ruled out Brook. Although Brook is a regular choice in the Test and T20 squads, he isn’t part of the current ODI group. His only substantial innings in ODI came against South Africa a few months back.
Buttler, speaking before the men’s eliminator match between Manchester Originals and Southern Brave, commented:
There’s still plenty of time before everyone is supposed to depart, so we’ll see how things unfold. We’re all aware of Harry’s exceptional skills, and we saw his performance the other night; it’s not a surprise because we know what a talented player he is.
But at the moment, he’s unfortunately not in that squad. The return of Ben Stokes as a batter changes things a bit. Ben’s return is fantastic for the team. The selection is quite challenging; many players have consistently performed well, and that’s our current situation.”
Following The Hundred group stage, Brook holds the second position in the list of top scorers, trailing only Buttler. Buttler’s own performance as captain of the Originals includes 298 runs with an average of 42.57 and a strike rate of 143.26, significantly contributing to their success. The team aims to perform even better this time after losing in last year’s final.
