England captain Harry Brook is hoping his side can bounce back quickly from a losing start to their Australian tour, even if they have not had time to hit the nets again before taking the field in Adelaide. Brook’s side were bowled out for 131 before suffering a seven-wicket defeat in their ODI opener at Perth’s Optus Stadium on Friday.
Adapting Without Training
Undone by the unique sharp bounce of Western Australia, the team now faces a different proposition as they head south. With a two-and-a-half-hour evening flight to factor in, the squad will not get a chance to work on things ahead of a must-win second match.
As reported by Sky Sports, Brook is not shying away from the tight schedule as the team prepares for next year’s World Cup campaign in South Africa. “Cricket, and especially white-ball cricket, comes so thick and fast and you’ve got to be able to and be prepared to move on very quickly,” Brook stated.
“We’ve got to adapt to conditions as quickly as possible. We’re not going to have a training session, we’ve got a flight and then we’re pretty much straight into the game,” he added.
Brook noted that the rapid transition mirrors tournament conditions. “But that replicates what the World Cup’s going to show us and there’s going to be some great lessons for us going from this sort of surface in Perth to Adelaide, where it’s going to be slightly lower and probably not as quick,” he explained.
“It’s a good opportunity for us to learn some lessons and work towards that World Cup. I won’t dwell [on the loss] too much. You’ve got to learn and you learn a lot from defeats, probably more than you do from your victories.”
Selection Decisions and Rashid’s Future
England’s bowling attack barely stood a chance of defending such a slender total on Friday, meaning the decision to once again omit Adil Rashid slipped under the radar. The leg-spinner is England’s second-highest wicket-taker in 50-over cricket behind James Anderson and has been a guaranteed pick for a dozen years, but at the age of 38, he finds himself battling for his spot.
Rashid made a single appearance in the recent tri-series in Pakistan, with left-armer Liam Dawson preferred in a horses-for-courses selection, and was overlooked again in Perth. Brook, who described the Yorkshireman as a “magician” on the eve of the game, credited that call to the pace of the pitch but may face tougher selection questions if Rashid continues to miss out on a more helpful Adelaide track.
“We knew that the surface was going to be seam-friendly and spin wasn’t going to play a massive part, hence why we went with Daws [Liam Dawson], who is probably a better batter than Rash at the minute,” Brook said.
The second ODI takes place on Sunday, November 15, in Adelaide, kicking off a busy schedule of white-ball fixtures across Australia.
