No more Mr Nice Guy as England seek series-clinching win

Independent

5 days ago

Harry Brook insisted England 'don't always have to be nice' as they prepare to resume hostilities against India after tensions threatened to boil over last time out at Lord's.
After exchanging good-natured wins at Headingley and Edgbaston, the Rothesay Test series grew testy at the home of cricket as India's fielders clashed with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett in a time-wasting row.
That lit a fire under England when it was their turn to field, with Jofra Archer giving a pumped-up send-off to Rishabh Pant while Brydon Carse and Ravindra Jadeja were involved in a mid-pitch collision.
India crumbled to 170 all out in pursuit of 193 to fall 2-1 down ahead of this week's penultimate Test at Emirates Old Trafford, but Brook did not think England crossed any line in their pursuit of victory.
Brook said: 'I've had a lot of compliments. Everybody (I've spoken to) said it was awesome to watch. It was good fun, I have to admit, it was tiring but it made fielding a lot more enjoyable.
'I think it put them under a little bit more pressure. The opportunity that arose for us to not be the nice guys was because of what they did. We just thought 'we're not standing for that'.
'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. Who knows, that might have played into our favour. It was good fun.
'We were doing it within the spirit of the game. We weren't going out there effing and jeffing at them and being nasty people. We were just going about it in the right manner.'
England have been accused of being too carefree in the 'Bazball' era, and Brook revealed it was at his urging after some choice words from head coach Brendon McCullum that they should shed that approach.
Asked whether that extra bit of spice will follow the teams up north as England look to guarantee a series win, Brook replied: 'God knows. We'll see whether it happens again and whether it works.
'We were just putting them under more pressure. Baz (McCullum) actually said a few days before that we are too nice sometimes, and I brought it up the night before the last day: 'Baz said the other day we're too nice, I think tomorrow is a perfect opportunity to really get stuck into them'.'
Mohammed Siraj was fined 15 per cent of his match fee and given one demerit point for his angry send-off of Duckett during England's second innings, which ended with the pair brushing shoulders.
He anticipates more needle between the teams in Manchester, saying: 'Yes (we will see more of it). I'm thinking what we need, what a player needs is sledging.'
Brook had a rare fallow week at Lord's with just 34 runs and for the second time in the past eight months, he was knocked off top spot in the Test batting rankings by fellow Yorkshireman Joe Root.
'My main reason I'm in the team is to score runs and I don't want that (ranking) to affect my batting,' Brook added. 'I'm going to go out there, still be the batter I am.
'Everybody wants to be number one (in the world), don't they? Joe is a phenomenal player. I'm not in the same league as him.
'In my opinion, he's the best Test batter of all time. So I'll let him have that one for now.'