Harry Brook breathed a major sigh of relief after chalking up his first ODI century and a first win as England captain on a memorable day in Durham.
After heavy losses to Australia at Trent Bridge and Headingley, England knew nothing less than victory would be enough to keep themselves in the five-match series and Brook’s masterful innings delivered.
Coming to the crease at 11 for two after both openers had fallen to Mitchell Starc, he peeled off a sensational 110 not out. Rain meant England were unable to complete their pursuit of 305 but the hosts still walked away with a 46-run win on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern thanks to Brook’s brilliance and a stand of 156 with Will Jacks (84).
It was a mature display from a novice skipper with just 18 caps in the format and a further reminder of the remarkable talent England have on their hands.
But, after a tricky start to his temporary reign, he was happy just to get back in the groove.
“I’m relieved, for sure. It’s just nice to see some rewards,” he said.
“I’m just glad I managed to play the way I wanted to. It’s nice to get that first hundred on the board and hopefully there’s plenty more to come.”
“I feel like I’ve been a little bit stop-start this summer, I’ve had a lot of starts – 30s and 40s – and then not managed to convert, which is frustrating. To do that today, I feel like I’m back in a good place. Obviously it’s nice to score runs against Australia but scoring runs is amazing no matter who it is against.”
Brook raised eyebrows with some of his comments after England’s loss in the series opener in Nottingham, reflecting on some loose dismissals by saying: “If you get caught somewhere on the boundary or in the field then who cares?”.
Some interpreted that as a flippant approach to what is being billed – and priced – as an elite contest – but he suggested there had been a misunderstanding of his words.
“I think people took that a little bit the wrong way. You’ve got to go out and play fearlessly and almost have that ‘who cares?’ attitude but that’s not a ‘who cares if we lose?’ attitude,” he said.
“We all want to win, but you don’t want to go out and have that fear of getting out. You’ve seen it so many times in the Test environment, at the start Stokesy (captain Ben Stokes) was getting out caught at mid-on which is unheard of before, so you’ve got to go out with that fearless attitude and try to take it to the bowlers.”
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald bemoaned the absence of key spinner Adam Zampa, a late withdrawal through illness, but doffed his cap to Brook.
“Full credit to Harry. He’s an impressive player and he’s going to have a long career for England,” he said.
“He’s going to give us some headaches over the journey. The way he played, the way he led today…sometimes you’ve got to take your hat off to the opposition. This is one of those moments.”