Harry Brook on England’s poor display against spin in Kolkata, blaming smog and the poor visibility conditions.
Harry Brook blames Kolkata smog for England’s spin difficulties.
The vice captain of England claims that a dense layer of pollution above the stadium in Kolkata, an uncommon but familiar opponent to English touring teams, hindered his team’s chances of facing India’s spin bowlers in the opening Twenty20 International.
After making 17 off 14 balls, Brook was bowled by India’s legspinner Varun Chakravarthy, who two balls later removed Liam Livingstone in a nearly same manner. India’s spinners claimed five wickets as England fell from 65 for 2 to 109 for 8 and finally 132 all out. With a resounding 43 balls remaining, Abhishek Sharma’s 79 off 34 balls eventually condemned them to a seven-wicket loss.
With 3 for 23 in his four overs, Chakravarthy was the attack’s star, although fellow legspinner Ravi Bishnoi was also difficult to dismiss with figures of 0 for 22. On the eve of the second Twenty20 International in Chennai, Brook also hinted that England’s difficulties in selecting their variations may have had an atmospheric component.
“I didn’t face Bishnoi but Chakravarthy is an exceptionally good bowler,” he said. “He’s tough to pick. I think actually with the smog the other night, it was a lot harder to pick as well. Hopefully, the air is a bit clearer here and we can see the ball a bit easier.
“He’s an exceptional bowler and has got a lot of skills with extreme accuracy as well. Their spinners are their key threat, so we will look to put pressure on them, take them down, put as much pressure as we can on them, and hopefully they crumble from there.”
In Chennai, England is expected to make at least one change to their starting lineup. Gus Atkinson, who had a memorable night with bat and ball in Kolkata, will be replaced by Brydon Carse, a speed alternative. The 12-man roster also includes Jamie Smith, who might replace Jacob Bethell, who was unwell and missed Friday’s training.
Although Brendon McCullum had cautioned “there’ll be some times we don’t quite get it right” in his pre-series remarks to the media last week, the crushing defeat on Wednesday signalled a low-key beginning to his term as England’s white-ball head coach.
His decision to name Harry Brook as Jos Buttler’s vice-captain, however, is more evidence of his intention to bring the white-ball and red-ball teams together under a common ideology and with as many cross-over players as possible. Additionally, the way Brook was offered the deputy’s position demonstrated the casual attitude that has driven the Test team’s performances in previous seasons.
“We were sat in the bar the other night and Baz texted me from across the other side of the room,” he said. “He just said ‘Congrats, you’re the vice-captain’ and I just put: ‘Beautiful, thanks.’ There wasn’t really much conversation.
“Obviously, I captained the ODIs in the summer so I kind of knew that it was going to happen. You don’t have to do too much as a vice-captain; Jos is extremely experienced, I’ll give him a few suggestions here and there and if he comes to me, I’ll give him my opinion but it’s up to him whether he takes it or not.”