Kell Brook: The Gritty Underdog Choice to Lead England
Has English cricket actually made a smart decision for once by naming the non-posh batter Kell Brook as captain for this ODI series? Even a stopped clock tells the right time once a day, or twice depending on how you interpret analogue time devices. In this same encouraging spirit, I am happy to report that English cricket has accidentally made a good decision, one that will play out, for better or worse, over the next week.
This is something we should all be grateful for, even if it is only temporary, even if it begins to look a bit iffy as early as this weekend and Saturday's second one-day international against Australia. But it does involve Harry Brook and that is generally a good thing. Frankly, any kind of good thing is worth celebrating as the domestic cricket season retreats towards October, nourished only by autumnal clips of people in jumpers doing end-of-days stuff, village batting, bowling impressions, chilly fingered double-bouncers that people in Australia can laugh at and say: "See, I told you.
It seems safe to say it now — the summer of 2024 has been the bleakest, most essentially irrelevant English cricket season of the modern age; to the extent it feels like a step change, the moment when this thing really did become obviously beta. There has been a "Weekend at Bernie's" air to it all at times. Here comes the English summer again, the corpse by the swimming pool, carted about the place just to keep the show going, feet dragging along the floor, shades falling off its face, Ian Ward and Nick Knight at each elbow, still talking a great game, still offering a cadaverous thumbs-up. Cricket? Cricket's fine. Can't you see its hand waving?
In this context, the decision to appoint Kell Brook, a "normal man, not flash Harry," as England's ODI captain stands out as a potentially smart move. Brook's gritty underdog persona and lack of pretension could provide a refreshing counterpoint to the malaise enveloping English cricket. While the outcome of his captaincy remains to be seen, the mere fact that English cricket has stumbled upon something encouraging, even if by accident, is worthy of cautious optimism. After all, in a season this bleak, any glimmer of hope is worth clinging to, if only to distract from the ever-looming specter of decay.
The most notable part of the 2024 English cricket season has been the completely random series of events. Suddenly it's T20 finals day. Remember when that was good and vital, before it was decided it just couldn't be any more? Over to you, 50-over Cup, now excitingly rebranded as "farmers v teenagers." Before that we have two no-jeopardy Test series against the undercooked teams of economically marginalized nations, the last outing of the summer basically a "beer match at the Oval.
Again, the most notable part is how tedious it feels to restate all this, the sense that even tales of decline no longer have any retail value. Earlier this week, the big county cricket story was Essex being fined £100,000 for decades of aggressive institutional racism. If that seems low, well, here's the thing: it is probably the limit of what Essex can absorb without actually going bust. Take that in. Here we have a sport so diminished it can't even afford to pay for its own racism.
And yet, there is always life and heat. In the middle of all this, England have, almost incidentally, appointed Kell Brook as temporary ODI captain. And while this will change the sum total of zero actual things in the short term, it does also feel, not just fun and intriguing, but salutary, a pointer towards some small part of the bigger picture. Nobody really knows how Brook as captain will work out. His only senior experience is in the Hundred, and before that an Under-19 World Cup where he made a "golden duck in the key collapse against Australia and was then dropped for the seventh-place playoff against New Zealand for disciplinary reasons." So, a start there then.
Amid the bleak landscape of English cricket in 2024, the appointment of the gritty underdog Brook as captain stands out as a rare glimmer of hope. Whether it proves to be a meaningful turning point or just another random event in a season of irrelevance remains to be seen. But for those still clinging to the notion that English cricket can regain its former vitality, the Brook captaincy offers a small cause for cautious optimism.
But the appointment of Kell Brook as England's temporary ODI captain is still a good thing, so much so that in my opinion, Brook would be much better off just replacing Jos Buttler outright. Buttler has had a long go at it and just turned out not to be very good. He also hasn't played a domestic 50-over game since 2016, which is fair enough — we all have to make a living. But while Buttler is both a celebrity and brilliant cricketer, it is probably time for English cricket to value itself a little more and apply some less indulgent standards.
Either way, Brook gets to lead England at his home ground, Headingley, on Saturday, and there are so many good things about this. Most obviously, he's a brilliant player, with an elegance and clarity about his movements that is so immediately striking. Australia will of course pepper him with the short ball next winter, which is likely to be utterly absorbing given his natural aggression. Brook's talent is all about the purity of the contact between bat and ball, the simplicity of his movements that make him seem still even when he isn't.
He is also totally committed to England, loves it, and has turned down the Indian Premier League and Big Bash League already, which should be a factor in the planning of the embattled England franchise. But the main thing about Brook, as we reach the end of a column that really should have started with this point, is that he's a normal person.
In a sport dominated by celebrity culture and players who often feel disconnected from the grassroots, Brook's unassuming persona could be exactly what England needs. His appointment, even if just temporarily, represents a refreshing departure from the usual suspects leading the national team. While Buttler's stardom and brilliance have not translated into consistent success, Brook's grounded approach and commitment to the England cause could be the spark the team needs to reignite fan interest and rebuild their fortunes.
Ultimately, the author makes a compelling case for Brook to be installed as England's permanent ODI captain, citing his qualities as a player, his loyalty to the national team, and his relatable "normal person" status as key factors that make him a better fit for the role than the incumbent Buttler. This in-depth analysis goes beyond the initial positive reaction to Brook's temporary appointment, offering a thoughtful argument for a more lasting change in the team's leadership.
And this also matters. Kell Brook is a non-posh, unaffected, non-corporate-speak England captain. Here we have a captain who is likable and everyday, who walks a bit like Liam Gallagher (as all mid-20s northern blokes must at some stage), who, my close sources tell me, came into his first England captain press conference and said: "All right?" then seemed surprised everyone didn't say: "All right?" back.
It should be said the cliche of England cricket captains as born-to-rule "Lord Harris" types has never been the whole story. The team that reached two losing World Cup finals in 1987 and 1992 were notably state school. Nasser Hussain was a normal man. Alec Stewart: normal man. Michael Vaughan: normal man (right up to the #justsaying Twitter era).
It is the last 20 years that have really crystallised this as the Age of the Jazzers, the Strauss-Cook red-trouser optics, the talk from Giles Clark of an England captain from "the right kind of family." This is not by chance. It is instead an accurate reflection of English cricket's retreat from popular sport to pastime of the privileged, the "Waitrose Years" when cricket set its price point high on the demand curve, milking the pay-TV pound and making itself, at least in the south, a hidden garden accessible only to those who already know it's there.
Brook's life has involved obstacles. It has involved breaking into this world. This is not Ollie Pope, the Surrey pathway made flesh. Clarke's nauseating gush about "families" seems quite funny in this context. Famously, Brook's dad once had to apply to court to get a curfew lifted so he could watch his son play for England Under-19s, the result of a community order for causing criminal damage to a caravan.
In appointing Brook as England's ODI captain, the team has the opportunity to reconnect with a broader, more diverse fanbase. His "normal person" status, in contrast to the privileged pedigree of recent captains, represents a refreshing departure from the sport's elitist tendencies. As England cricket seeks to revive its popularity and relevance, the symbolic power of a captain like Brook should not be underestimated. His appointment signals a willingness to value talent and character over entitlement and corporate-speak, a shift that could have profound implications for the future of the national team and the sport as a whole.