Harry Brook ready to 'lose a little bit of money' to prioritise England after being named white-ball captain
Harry Brook was named the new white-ball captain for England after Jos Buttler stepped down from the role following a disastrous Champions Trophy campaign. Brook forwent a Rs 6.25 crore contract in the IPL with the Delhi Capitals to focus solely on England cricket.
Harry Brook, the new white-ball captain of England, conceded that it would be okay for him to let go of some of the money for a greater good, which is prioritising England cricket at this point. Brook, who backed out of the Rs 6.25 crore deal for the Delhi Capitals after being picked at the IPL 2025 auction for the second year running, said that currently, no amount of money will change his mind about stepping back from the franchise cricket for the moment as he shepherds the white-ball team into a new direction.
"I just want to play cricket for England, represent my country like I have over the last few years and hopefully have a big impact on the side moving forward," Brook said at Headingley on Wednesday. Brook said that he hasn't completely given up franchise cricket but the scheduling won't allow him to part-take in much of it.
"It's my priority - England is the way forward for me and franchise cricket can almost take a step back for a little while. At the end of the day, I enjoy playing cricket for England more than anything else so, yeah, to lose a little bit of money here and there I'd take that any day to play for England.
"I haven't completely given up franchise cricket. But in the near future, I don't see a way with the schedule that I'm going to have much time to play on the franchise circuit," Brook further added while calling his 'supposed ban' by the IPL for pulling out after being picked in the auction as 'fair play' since the rules were already put in place before the November auction.
It will be a case of workload management for Brook as well considering Jos Buttler, whom he succeeded, didn't play Test cricket after taking over as captain in shorter formats and vice-versa for Ben Stokes, who was largely required during the T20 World Cup 2022 being the big white-ball assignment. For Brook, the Ashes still remain the pinnacle of the game.
"I know I've taken over the white-ball captaincy, but the Ashes is the pinnacle of cricket for me still." Brook's first assignment in charge will begin on May 29 with the white-ball assignment against the West Indies featuring three ODIs and as many T20Is.