Brook relishing 'fun' start as England captain after Windies clean sweep
England captain Harry Brook lifts the ODI series trophy after his side completed a 3-0 sweep of the West Indies with a seven-wicket win at the Oval (Glyn KIRK)
Harry Brook said he was having a "hell of a lot of fun" as England captain after his first series in permanent charge of the white-ball sides ended in a 3-0 clean sweep of the West Indies.
England recorded their first one-day international series whitewash in three years -- when they beat the Netherlands by the same scoreline -- following a dominant seven-wicket success at the Oval on Tuesday.
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Brook's men made light of a revised target of 246 after rain reduced the match to 40 overs per side.
Jamie Smith, promoted to open this series, launched the run chase with a dynamic 64 off 28 balls as he posted a maiden ODI fifty in front of his Surrey home crowd.
Jos Buttler, Brook's predecessor as limited-overs captain, finished the job with 41 not out as England cruised home with more than 10 overs to spare.
Yet England came into this series on a seven-match losing streak in ODI cricket, including a woeful Champions Trophy campaign in Pakistan earlier this year that prompted Buttler's resignation as skipper.
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"It's a hell of a lot of fun when you're enjoying it with a lot of mates," said Brook, whose attention now turns to a three-match T20 series with the West Indies starting at Chester-le-Street on Friday.
"I think we've got such a good side. The depth in batting is amazing and then we've got a lot of skilful bowlers as well."
England were back to their best in the field at the Oval after letting their standards slip at Cardiff on Sunday following a 238-run rout of the West Indies in last week's series opener at Edgbaston.
That England managed a three-wicket win in Wales that put them an unassailable 2-0 up was largely down to star batsman Joe Root's ODI best 166 not out.
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- 'Proper shots' -
"I don't feel like we really deserved that win," said Brook of Sunday's success at Sophia Gardens.
"Our fielding was a little bit sloppy.
"But because we are so tight as a group, we've managed to scrape a victory there. Obviously, having Joe Root in your side is always a big help."
Smith, who replaced Phil Salt as opener, averaged 17.63 after his first dozen ODI innings.
But on Tuesday the batting skill that has helped make him a Test regular was evident.
"He's gone out there and and played extremely well, but he's not a slogger," Brook said. "He's playing proper shots, he's putting their bad balls away and he's putting them (the West Indies) under immense pressure."
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The West Indies recovered from 28-3 and 154-7 to finish on 251-9 after arriving late to the Oval because of heavy London traffic .
Adil Rashid was the pick of England's attack, with the veteran leg-spinner taking 3-40.
"Rash has got so much skill," said Brook of his Yorkshire team-mate.
"He's a very wily bowler. He's he's been around the block for a while, and he keeps on getting better and better."
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