Harry Brook starts his tenure as official England white-ball captain in Birmingham on Thursday, when his side begin a three-match ODI series against the West Indies.
Brook took temporary charge of the team at the end of last summer when then-captain Jos Buttler had to miss Australia’s tour of England due to injury, and he took to the job well, leading with positivity and an attacking intent.
Following Buttler’s decision to step down as captain after a disappointing Champions Trophy campaign, Brook has been tasked with reviving England’s fortunes in the shorter formats, along with coach Brendon McCullum who is now in charge of all three international teams.
Brook’s first assignment comes against the West Indies, an opponent never easy to predict, summed up perfectly by their recent tour of Ireland.
In the opening match of that ODI series, they lost by 124 runs having been rolled out cheaply with the bat, before responding with scores of 352 and 385 batting first.
The series was eventually drawn following heavy rain in game two.
I did consider taking a chance on a couple of the England seamers in the Man of the Match market, in the hope the hosts bowl first under cloudy skies.
But rowing back on this particular market was on my New Year’s Resolutions list, so I can let the likes of Saqib Mahmood and Brydon Carse go.
Instead, I think JOE ROOT is just very solid in the top England batsman market at 10/3.
Root and Ben Duckett were England’s outstanding performers with the bat at the Champions Trophy in the spring, both averaging in the seventies, with next best from a batsman coming from Jos Buttler who averaged 27.33.
And if conditions on Thursday are indeed challenging for batting, the best technique and ability to combat the moving the ball might be the way to go.
I have plenty of respect for Duckett on that score, fresh from a hundred against Zimbabwe in the last week’s Test match, but Root remains the king and that ODI record referred to earlier is quite outstanding.
He has an ODI century on this ground, too, and I’m pleased to see that Brook has his best player available for the start of his tenure – a luxury not always afforded to his predecessor.
Root appeals as the safest bet, and the 10/3 currently available ought to pay across the duration of the series.
Preview published at 1050 BST on 28/05/25
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