Strong Yorkshire, strong England: What we learnt as Brook began captaincy

Three games. Three wins.

Harry’s Brook first series as permanent England white-ball captain could hardly have gone any better with West Indies swatted aside in one-day international cricket.

Before the sides meet again in a three-match T20 series – starting at Chester-le-Street on Friday, live on Sky Sports (6.30pm first ball) – we reflect on what worked for England in the 50-over fixtures, as well as what issues may need fixing moving forward.

Brook gets England back on track

Brook, who succeeded Jos Buttler as captain after the disastrous Champions Trophy campaign, said he wanted to bring “fun” and victories while in charge and England experienced both as they registered their first ODI series win since before the 2023 World Cup – a tournament even more disastrous than the Champions Trophy.

England snapped a run of seven straight 50-over defeats, easing fears that they may miss out on automatic qualification for the 2027 World Cup after a slide down the rankings, with Brook key to it all, scoring runs in each game – topping out with 58 in the opener at Edgbaston – deploying creative fields and getting the big calls right, principally the decision to open the batting with Jamie Smith.

Brook averaged 78 across five matches while standing in as skipper for Buttler in the home ODI series against Australia last year and his runs against West Indies showed once again that he is a character unlikely to be weighed down by the impact of captaincy.

There will be stiffer challenges to come than West Indies and not everything Brook did was spot on – the short-ball tactic against the tourists’ lower order in the final ODI was rather prescriptive and allowed Gudakesh Motie and Alzarri Joseph to plunder runs.

Yet, we saw this was an England team able to think on the fly when they hopped onto Lime bikes in order to beat the traffic and get to The Kia Oval on Tuesday. As this new cycle begins for the team under Brook, the early signs are promising.

Root and Rashid show enduring class

The old adage is ‘strong Yorkshire, strong England’, and that is an apt appraisal here with not only Brook impressing against West Indies but Joe Root and Adil Rashid as well – the former becoming his nation’s all-time leading ODI run scorer and the latter his country’s most-prolific spinner across all forms of international cricket.

Root’s heavenly 166 not out in Cardiff, his largest ODI innings and surely his best, rescued England from 133-5 in a chase of 309 and highlighted his importance to the team. Not just as a run-scorer but also a role model, with the 34-year-old still eager to “expand” and “evolve” despite all he has achieved in the game.

He has admitted to feeling “guilty” about not being there more often for former captain Buttler during England’s tribulations in ODI cricket, what with selectors prioritising Root for Test assignments, but is now determined to be a key component under Brook.

Brook does not have to worry about juggling red and white-ball cricket when it comes to Rashid, though, with England’s seemingly irreplaceable leg-spinner having packed the long form in a while ago – and continuing to thrive in the shorter formats at the age of 37.

In the West Indies series, Rashid bagged nine wickets at an average of 17, with his four strikes in Cardiff ensuring his opponents were restricted to 308 when 350-looked likely, before his two strikes in as many balls at The Kia Oval pegged the tourists back again.

Bethell is here to stay – in all forms

England’s 400-plus total at Edgbaston to start the Brook reign conjured up memories of Eoin Morgan’s side topping 400 for the first time – on the same ground – 10 years earlier to begin that brave new white-ball era. Four years later, they were world champions.

If Brook’s team are to reach similar heights, it is the likes of Smith, Will Jacks and Jacob Bethell that this batting line-up will largely be built around – and the latter, in particular, looks primed for greatness based on his majestic 82 off 53 balls in Birmingham.

Bethell smashed eight fours and five sixes to threaten a first ton of his professional career, before perishing in the final over. On such evidence, it’s simply a case of when, not if, he gets that first century to his name, in ODIs, T20s or Tests – or all three!

It is not long now before England have to work out if and how they get his precocious talent back into their Test team for the India series. Ollie Pope won’t be sleeping easy…

Smudge makes his mark as opener

Perhaps the biggest call Brook, and coach Brendon McCullum, had to make was who would open alongside Ben Duckett. They plumped for Smith, despite the Surrey man never having performed that role domestically and, three games in, it looks inspired.

Okay, let’s scratch the second ODI in Cardiff when Smith bagged a duck, because either side of that he dazzled, smoking 37 from 24 balls in Birmingham and then 64 from 28 on home turf at The Oval, hitting a first ODI fifty and sending a ball out of the ground.

Smith and Duckett appear to have formed a similar big man, little man opening partnership to the one Duckett enjoys with Zak Crawley in Tests and West Indies’ seamers certainly struggled to deal with adjusting from bowling to a tall and imposing right-hander (Smith) to a small and imposing left-hander (Duckett).

Smith’s next task is to push on and make massive scores at the top of the order but he is already setting the tone for how Brook’s England want to play and doing it with proper shots as opposed to slogs. The fact he complements Duckett so well is another plus.

Is the balance of the side right?

The biggest question coming out of the series is perhaps whether England need another frontline bowler, possibly a seamer, to support the other pacemen and spin maestro Rashid, with fifth-bowler duties shared by part-time spinners Bethell and Jacks.

Bethell and Jacks recorded combined figures of 3-162 across 20.4 overs and there is a nagging feeling that against superior opposition England could be found out.

Having Jacks at No 7 lengthens the batting and he played a major role in the Cardiff victory by sharing a century stand with Root, but he would appear the most vulnerable should England want to add a full-time spinner – Liam Dawson, who has been recalled to the T20 squad, is a candidate – or a quick. But who would that quick be?

Considering you’d want them to bat, then in an ideal world it would be Ben Stokes but he seems firmly focused on Tests for now, while Sam Curran is well down the pecking order. Perhaps Chris Woakes, even at the age of 36, has more ODI cricket left in him?

Still, Brook seems content with the balance for now and he can point to a 3-0 sweep in his first series in full charge as vindication.

Watch England’s first T20 international against West Indies, in Durham, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 6pm on Friday (6.30pm first ball). Stream cricket and more with NOW.