England won’t play nice against India, warns Brook

England batsman Harry Brook has warned India that his team ‘don’t always have to be nice’ as they prepare to resume hostilities at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

After England battled to a fiery 22-run victory in the third Test at Lord’s, the teams will lock horns again with the series on the line in Manchester.

An England win would put them 3-1 up with one game to play, while India must take the last two matches to secure their first Test series triumph on English soil since 2007.

It promises to be another fiercely-fought encounter after India’s fielders clashed with England batsmen Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett in a time-wasting row at Lord’s.

That lit a fire under England when it was their turn to field, with Jofra Archer giving a pumped-up send-off to India’s Rishabh Pant.

As the tension mounted in England’s 22-run win, Brydon Carse and India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja were involved in a mid-pitch collision.

But Brook is adamant Ben Stokes’ side did not go too far with their spikey approach in pursuit of victory.

“I’ve had a lot of compliments. Everybody 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,” he said on Monday.

“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.”

India pace bowler 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.

Brook revealed it was at his urging after some choice words from head coach Brendon McCullum that they decided to fight back.

Asked whether that aggressive approach will continue as England look to win the series, Brook said: “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.

“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’.”

Dawson back in England team after eight-year absence: England’s Liam Dawson has been named in the team to play India in the fourth Test, England’s cricket board (ECB) announced on Monday, marking the spinner’s first Test appearance in eight years.

The 35-year-old Hampshire left-armer, who replaces the injured Shoaib Bashir, is the only change to the team for the fourth Test which begins on Wednesday. Dawson has not played a Test match since earning his third test cap in July 2017.

Dawson, an unused member of the 2019 World Cup winning squad, did feature in the Twenty20 series against West Indies in June.

Bashir suffered a fracture to his finger during the third test at Lord’s, which England won by 22 runs to take a 2-1 lead, leaving them one victory away from clinching their first five-match series win since 2018.

India’s Reddy ruled out of rest of series: India all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy was on Monday ruled out of the final two Tests because of a knee injury.

“Nitish will fly back home and the team wishes him a speedy recovery,” the Board of Control for Cricket in India said in a statement.

Reddy scored 45 runs and took three wickets in his two outings in the series.

Left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh, who is yet to feature in the series, will miss the fourth Test after injuring his thumb during net practice.

Uncapped all-rounder Anshul Kamboj has been added to India’s squad.

Agencies