Harry Brook believes England’s approach to the Test and limited overs formats will “merge into one” when Brendon McCullum unifies the head coach role.
After his impressive ‘Bazball’ revolution as England’s Test coach, McCullum has agreed to take the reins for the country’s white-ball teams.
McCullum will not combine his duties until January and, with England’s limited overs captain Jos Buttler injured, Brook and Marcus Trescothick are serving as skipper and coach, respectively, for the one-day international series against Australia.
Trescothick is one of McCullum’s assistants with the Test team, while Brook is an instrumental batter in the aggressive game plan that has seen England win 19 from 29 matches under the New Zealander.
Brook is preparing to captain England for the first time in Thursday’s opening ODI at Trent Bridge, and the big-hitting Yorkshire star knows McCullum expects of him.
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“I think it’s all going to merge into one at some point. It’s all going to be played fairly similar,” Brook told reporters on Wednesday.
“We’re going to have the same principles on however we want to go about playing the game, trying to put that forward to the team already before Baz [McCullum] takes over.
“I haven’t spoken to him much, he’s kind of left it up to me and Tres [Trescothick], 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 the pressure on their bowlers. In the field, try to influence the game as much as you can.”
Brook did not reveal 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 is inexperienced England’s first ODI assignment in nine months, with three players uncapped and five others having fewer than 10 appearances.
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Brook has only 15 ODI caps and was one of the few England players aged under 30 in their dismal 50-over World Cup defence in India last year.
The 25-year-old came under fire recently, with former England captains Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook questioning his loose stroke play in the third Test defeat against Sri Lanka.
Responding to the criticism, Brook said: “I want to get 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.”
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