We were 'too careful', says England captain Harry Brook

MUMBAI: For a team which has completely changed its white-ball philosophy post their debacle in the 2015 World Cup, England appeared to be slipped back to their conservative ways during their 30-run defeat to the more free-spirited West Indies in their Group C match at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday night.

After West Indies, undeterred by the loss of early wickets, hammered 196 for six, England were all out for 166 in 19 overs, as their batters were held in knots by the West Indian spinners.



Blaming himself too, England captain Harry Brook made no bones about being unhappy with England's slightly cautious approach when he said he believed England were "too careful" during their failed chase. "We were probably a little bit careful, myself included (he made 17 off 14 balls before he was caught and bowled by left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie, who finished with three for 33). I'd much rather be caught on the boundary rather than the way I did today. That's part of T20 cricket. He (Motie) was probably the main threat at the time so, personally, I was trying to knock it into the leg side and get Sam back on strike," said Brook at the post-match press conference.

The lack of intent was surprising considering that in Sept last year, England became the first team to breach 300-plus in T20Is when they raced away to 304 for two in the second T20I against South Africa in Manchester. Guided by their head coach Brendon McCullum, England stick to the 'Bazball' style of aggressive batsmanship even in Tests. For this game, they added batting depth by bringing in allrounder Jamie Overton, who can bat at No 8, at the expense of specialist pacer Luke Wood.

"With the power that we have at the back end, myself included, I thought I could have taken a risk a little bit earlier knowing we still had Jacksy (Will Jacks), and Jamie Overton to come in. With that power and that depth that we have, we do think we can chase almost anything. Obviously today, we didn't," rued Brook.

With dew being a major factor at this time of the year, teams prefer chasing at the Wankhede, but the lack of it meant that West Indies' spinners became more dangerous and spoiled England's plans. "Chasing nearly 200 is always a big ask and we thought the pitch would get better and it would slide onto the bat a little more, and that didn't happen. We thought it was chaseable, definitely. We obviously planned for dew (opting to bat second) and it didn't quite get as dewy as we thought," Brook said.

Despite the defeat, England remain on course to qualify for the Super 8s, with the cushion of two points from a nail-biting win over Nepal in their World Cup opener helping them survive in the tournament. They face Scotland at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday, before round off their league engagements against Italy two days later at the same venue. "Thank god we won against Nepal the other night. Otherwise we'd be in a tricky situation," said the England captain.


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