England’s captain Brook predicts record 300-plus scores at T20 World Cup

England captain Harry Brook said on Thursday that he believes it could be a record-breaking T20 World Cup, with fans treated to a batting blitz and 300-plus scores.

Sri Lanka’s 260-6 in 2007 remains the highest total in the nine previous editions of the men’s tournament.

The 2026 T20 World Cup begins Saturday, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, and England will play all their Group C matches at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium and Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, both renowned as high-scoring venues.

“There are plenty of grounds in India where there could be a score of 300-plus,” Brook told reporters on the captain’s media day in Mumbai, when asked if he thought such lofty totals were possible.

“The wickets are quite good, with rapid outfields and fairly short boundaries.

“So, yeah, you’ve just got to go out there be fearless, not worry about getting out and keep on trying to attack the ball.”

England come into the World Cup heartened by a 3-0 T20 series win in Sri Lanka this week.

In the preceding ODI series against the same opposition, the explosive Brook bludgeoned 136 off just 66 balls.

His team are expected to make the Super Eights from a Group C that also features two-time winners West Indies, debutants Italy, Nepal and Scotland.

Brook would not be drawn when asked whether the 2010 and 2022 champions England were among the favourites for the title ahead of their opening match, against Nepal at the Wankhede stadium on Sunday.

“We’ll take it game by game and see where we land in a couple of weeks,” said Brook, who has been under intense scrutiny after an incident with a night club bouncer in New Zealand last year.

“We are confident, we want to go all the way in the tournament,” added Brook, who is in charge at a global tournament for the first time since he replaced Jos Buttler as white ball captain last year.

He did admit that he might try ‘to lose’ a few tosses as it could be a gamble in India and Sri Lanka as to whether batting first or bowling first would give the best advantage.

“Obviously, dew might play a factor in some different grounds,” said Brook.

“You’ve just got to try and assess the pitch, when you get there.

“Me and Baz (coach Brendon McCullum), we’ll be having chats here and there about it. We usually end up deciding that we don’t have a clue.

“So we’ll be trying to lose the odd toss, but no, you’ve got to try and factor in the dew, the opposition and what you think the pitch might do.”

England didn’t finalize their Twenty20 World Cup preparations until this week when they swept Sri Lanka 3-0, after their previous few series had been spoiled by wet weather.

The home campaign against South Africa in September was drawn 1-1 after the decider at Nottingham was washed out. Later that month in Ireland, England won 2-0 with another match lost to a downpour. In October in New Zealand, only one match was finished and England won it by 65 runs.

England went to Sri Lanka to get a full workout, and it was fruitful. Sri Lanka’s totals were chased down comfortably in the first two matches, then England’s 128 in the third was the lowest T20 total thay have ever defended successfully.

The lineup picks itself.

Openers Phil Salt and Buttler are the world-ranked Nos. 2 and 3 batters in T20.

There’s a question mark over Salt, though. Last month a back injury ended his participation in the UAE league and on Tuesday a back spasm forced his withdrawal from the third Sri Lanka T20.

Buttler captained England to their second T20 world championship in 2022 and to the semi-finals in 2024, and will play in his sixth T20 World Cup. Buttler was arguably T20’s first superstar and, at 35, has no plans to retire soon. He’s inspired by James Anderson playing internationals to 41. “Guys say you just know when the time’s up and you’ll probably wake up one day and just know,” Buttler told the Britain’s Press Association. “I haven’t had that moment yet so I’ll just keep going until that comes to me.”

Jacob Bethell was a rare Ashes feel-good story for England and didn’t score much against Sri Lanka but showed his Midas touch when he clinched the series by spinning out tailenders with figures of 4-11.

Bethell and Will Jacks can complement front-line spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson. Rashid is irreplaceable. He took five wickets in the Sri Lanka series and became the first England bowler to 150 wickets in T20s. He has picked up at least one wicket each of his last 24 T20s, dating to the 2024 World Cup.

Jofra Archer leads Sam Curran and Jamie Overton in a seam attack that was expensive in Sri Lanka. Archer, five weeks after a side strain ended his Ashes campaign early, is making up for lost chances.

Agencies