LONDON: 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 what is expected of him by McCullum.

“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 takes over.

“I haven’t spoken to him much, he’s kind of left it up to me and Tres, 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.

MARSH COY

Meanwhile, Australian captain Mitch Marsh refused to reveal who Australia will pick to open alongside Travis Head for the first one-dayer.

David Warner retired from the 50-over format after Australia’s World Cup triumph in India last year, with Josh Inglis promoted to the top of the order in a 3-0 series victory against West Indies in February.

Jake Fraser-McGurk, who registered his maiden international fifty in the drawn T20 series against England last week, and stand-in captain Marsh are other alternatives for the vital role as Head’s partner.

But Marsh, stepping up to deputise for Pat Cummins as skipper, gave nothing away when he faced the media ahead of Thursday’s match.

“We’ve got a few options. You’ll have to find out at the toss, or when we bat,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

Marsh hinted at fitness issues within the Australia camp as he said “we’re still working through that but we’ll have an XI on the park”.

He did confirm that spinner Adam Zampa will play his 100th ODI in Nottingham.

Zampa was Australia’s leading wicket-taker in their 2021 T20 World Cup and 2023 50-over World Cup successes and will likely be key as the tourists go in search of a 13th consecutive ODI victory.

“He’s certainly tracking towards being one of our greatest ever ODI players,” Marsh said. “I feel very lucky to have him in this team. There’s no hiding behind the fact he’s certainly one of our go-to men with the ball.

“One of the challenges he’s taken in his stride in the last few years is being that person for us and he certainly thrives off the bigger moments, which all great players do.”

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2024