‘Fun not to be nice guys any more': Harry Brook on England's new attitude

The Guardian

13 hours ago

Harry Brook has said that England's victory in the third Test against India taught them that 'you don't always have to be nice', and ended a period of several years in which they have tended to be overly friendly. That time came to an end midway through their last game – just days after their coach, Brendon McCullum, told them they could be a bit meaner – when they seized on 'a great opportunity to go hard at them' and 'tried to create a bit of niggle'.
Brook said that during the break between the conclusion of that game and the team's reunion in Manchester for the penultimate match of the series, which starts on Wednesday, he had received 'loads of compliments' about the drama created by the outbreak of hostility at Lord's. 'Everyone said it was awesome to watch,' Brook said. 'It was good fun, I have to admit. It made fielding a lot more enjoyable.'
Zak Crawley's timewasting at the end of the third day infuriated India, which in turn pushed the rest of the England side into action. 'Everybody saw them guys get stuck into Creeps [Crawley] and Ducky [Ben Duckett],' Brook said. 'We just thought: 'We're not having that.' So we all piled into them. A few days before Baz said sometimes we are a bit too nice. [So] we had a conversation and said: 'It's time to not be those nice guys that we have been before.'
'You don't always have to be nice. We tried to create a bit of niggle. We weren't being personal, we weren't being nasty, we were just putting them under more pressure. We were doing it within the spirit of the game. We weren't out there effing and jeffing at them and being nasty people. We were going about it in the right manner.'
India's Mohammed Siraj, who was fined 15% of his match fee for his aggressive reaction to the dismissal of Duckett on the morning of day four, said he plans to continue along similar lines this week.
England have announced their team for this week's fourth Test against India at Old Trafford, with Liam Dawson's return to the side after an eight-year absence, replacing the injured Shoaib Bashir, the only change to the side that took a 2-1 lead in the series by winning the third game at Lord's.
Bashir sustained a multiple break of the little finger on his left hand while fielding at Lord's, and though he returned to bat in England's second innings and to bowl on the final day – taking the decisive wicket of Mohammed Siraj to end the game – the injury required surgery and he has been ruled out of the remainder of the series.
'We're going to miss Bash. He's bowled exceptionally well and as we saw last week, he's got tremendous fight,' said Harry Brook. 'The way he came back out with a broken finger – he did an amazing bit of fielding on the boundary just before he got that last wicket. Just to come back out and get that wicket with a broken finger in two or three places showed an exceptional character.'
Dawson, a left-armer 14 years Bashir's senior, has a first class batting average of 35.29, compared with Bashir's 8.27. He will bat at No 8, pushing Chris Woakes down to nine – where he has batted only twice in the last five years and averaged 58.94 in 18 Test innings.
'He's a wily old fox, very experienced and very skilful,' Brook said of Dawson. 'He's played everywhere, played against everyone so hopefully he can have an amazing performance. Hopefully he can land it in the footholes and create a bit of spice and some opportunities to take wickets. He's adding to our strength in batting as well.' Simon Burnton
England team to play India at Old Trafford: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer.
'When you're in the moment and a batsman is playing well, sometimes you say something to get into his head,' he said. 'I think players need sledging sometimes. It can disrupt a batter's concentration. As a fast bowler, it's fun when those mind games happen.'
With doubts over the availability of another seamer, Akash Deep, owing to a groin injury, India are expected to field Jasprit Bumrah at Old Trafford now rather than hold him back for next week's final Test at the Oval with the 31-year-old only reportedly able to play three of the five Tests in the series.
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After the Lord's Test, England were punished for their slow over rates, and though Brook said the subject had not been discussed by the team he admitted improvements could be made. 'I think there were 75 overs in a day last week, which is pretty poor,' he said. 'You're losing 15 overs a day – you can bowl a side out in 15 overs. I think that was both teams, if I'm being honest. We can be quicker, they can definitely be quicker at stages. In my opinion, when they're batting it affects us a lot because they're always changing their gloves or getting treatment or whatever. There's got to be something happen there.'
England were joined at Old Trafford on Monday by the former All Blacks mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka. Enoka, a friend of McCullum's, has also worked with elite sides in several sports and nations including a spell at Chelsea in 2023, and is famous for instigating a 'no dickheads' policy while helping the All Blacks to two World Cup wins. He did some work with the England team at the start of the summer and will be with them for the next few days on a consultancy basis.