Joe Root has backed Harry Brook to do “wonderful things” as England white-ball captain after his nightclub scuffle, while describing under-pressure Brendon McCullum as “one of the best coaches I’ve worked with” who has “improved my game tenfold”.
Brook apologised to team-mates at the start of the ongoing tour of Sri Lanka, after news emerged on the final day of the 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia that he had been involved in an altercation with a bouncer the night before an ODI in New Zealand last November.
The 26-year-old and Root shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 81 as England won Saturday’s second ODI against Sri Lanka – on a Colombo pitch both players heavily criticised – by five wickets to set up a series decider at the same venue on Tuesday.
After this tour, which also includes three T20 internationals, England will stay in the subcontinent for the T20 World Cup, with performance in that tournament likely to be key to McCullum’s hopes of remaining in charge after the Ashes shellacking this winter.
I think Baz is one of the best coaches I’ve ever worked with. If you look at my own personal game, the time that he’s been coach, it’s improved tenfold.
Joe Root on England head coach Brendon McCullum
‘Brook has taken his punishment and will grow’
On Brook, Root said: “Harry’s a great fella. He’s going to be an incredible captain and is someone who clearly feels bad about what happened.
“He’s apologised, taken his punishment and is desperate to take this team forward. I think it’s a natural feeling for anyone that’s made a mistake to feel like you’ve let people down.
“I think he’s going to do wonderful things in an England shirt, both as a player and as a leader, so I’m fully behind him.
“I want to see him move past it and learn from it, grow as a person and as a captain off the back of it.”
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Brook said last week that he is lucky to still be England white-ball captain, adding that supporters have every right to be annoyed with his behaviour
Brook scored a patient 42 from 75 balls in Saturday’s match, after shrewdly rotating his plethora of spin-bowling options as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 219.
Root added of his fellow Yorkshireman: “He played what was required. It was a very different innings to what you might expect him to play but in many ways it won us the game.
“I think that shows good leadership and someone that really cares about the group and making sure that he wants to take us to further down the line.”
Brook helped England set up an ODI decider against Sri Lanka on Tuesday
‘Ashes defeat clearly hurts – but I need to properly reflect’
Root is not part of England’s T20 squad so will have plenty of time to digest the difficult Ashes tour before the home Test summer begins against New Zealand in June.
The 35-year-old said: “I haven’t really had time to mull it over. I think after this tour I’m going to get a couple of months to sit back and look at it properly and probably emotionlessly.
“You spend so much time trying to achieve something out there and when it doesn’t go well it’s easy to look at things through a certain lens.
Root scored two hundreds in the Ashes this winter but England still stumbled to a 4-1 series defeat
“It clearly hurts. Of course we went into that series expecting to win and to perform and come away with a lot more than what we did.
“But I could sit here and get wound up and angry about it and probably say something that I don’t necessarily mean or I could give myself some time to properly reflect on it.”
England in Sri Lanka – results and fixtures
All times UK and Ireland
First ODI (Colombo) – Sri Lanka win by 19 runsSecond ODI (Colombo) – England win by five wickets Third ODI (Tuesday January 27) – Colombo (9am)First T20 (Friday January 30) – Pallekele (1.30pm)Second T20 (Sunday February 1) – Pallekele (1.30pm)Third T20 (Tuesday February 3) – Pallekele (1.30pm)
