Brook relishing ‘fun’ start as England captain after Windies clean sweep

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.

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.

“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.

“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.”

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.”

Attention now switches to T20s, with three games against West Indies starting in Durham on Friday and a World Cup in February.

Agence France-Presse