Former England opener Sir Geoffrey Boycott has called for Harry Brook to justify his talent in 50-overs cricket after his failure in the Champions Trophy 2025. Boycott opined that the coaching staff equally needs to take responsibility of telling the youngster Harry Brook that it’s a 50-over game and that there is plenty of time.
Harry Brook appears to be the front runner to replace Jos Buttler as England’s white-ball captain but doubts are growing about the star batter’s suitability for the role.
Harry Brook struggled huge time in Champions Trophy 2025
Harry Brook served as Buttler’s deputy, making him the logical choice, but former greats are concerned that England’s demanding schedule means the captaincy needs to go to a white-ball specialist rather than an all-format gun like Brook. The 26-year-old has been a revelation in Ben Stokes’ Test side since debuting in 2022, averaging an astonishing 58.48 across 24 matches and blasting eight centuries.
The Yorkshireman’s ultra-aggressive approach has been emblematic of Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum’s Bazball philosophy, and his dashing stroke play also makes him a middle order mainstay of the white ball sides, having played 26 ODIs and 44 T20Is for his country. Harry Brook even captained England in Buttler’s absence during Australia’s ODI tour of the United Kingdom last year.
Despite losing the series 3-2, the role arguably brought out the best of Harry Brook as he topped the run charts, scoring 312 runs at an average of 78 and a very impressive strike rate of 127.86. The right-hander bludgeoned his only ODI century, an unbeaten 110 off 94 balls in a successful run chase at Durham. He passed fifty on two other occasions, meaning three of his four highest ODI scores have come as captain.
Those numbers make it seem like a no-brainer to appoint him as England’s new white-ball leader, but the gruelling realities of the international schedule may have caught up with Brook so far this year. Across the Champions Trophy and the ODI warm-up series in India, Harry Brook managed only 97 runs at 16.16, having faced 136 balls across six innings.
The poor stretch came after Harry Brook had played 12 Tests, five ODIs, ten T20Is as well as seven matches in The Hundred during 2024. Former England legend Sir Geoffrey Boycott has urged Harry Brook to step up after 2025 Champions Trophy failure.
England legend Sir Geoffrey Boycott urges Harry Brook to step up after 2025 Champions Trophy failure
Former England opener Sir Geoffrey Boycott has called for Harry Brook to justify his talent in 50-overs cricket after his failure in the Champions Trophy 2025. Boycott opined that the coaching staff equally needs to take responsibility of telling the youngster that it’s a 50-over game and that there is plenty of time.
Although Brook is one of the most free-flowing young batters today and has done well in Tests, he is yet to crack the 50-overs format. The national side were eliminated from the Champions Trophy 2025 after losing all three matches of the group stage. The Yorkshire batter aggregated only 47 runs, with 25 as his highest against Afghanistan.
In his column for The Telegraph, the 84-year-old observed that Brook tries to hit every ball to the boundary even in ODIs as if it’s T20s. He wrote:
“Brook is wasting his talent in 50 overs. He bats as if it is T20 and tries to hit every ball. Why do the coach and his coaching staff not sit down and explain to him that in 50 overs you have more time than you think to fashion an innings of substance. Watch Root and how he composes his time in the middle because these short little cameos that Brook makes are not helping England.”
The retired cricketer reckons the youngster will benefit from moving to No.3 and that England must somehow get the best out of him in the format, adding:
“Move Brook up to No 3 and tell him he has to accept more responsibility and start batting, not thrashing at every ball. It just might make him knuckle down. We have all seen this lad bat sensibly in Test cricket and then, when he is set, take the opposition bowlers apart with a display that is awesome. He has enormous talent, a talent that only comes once in a decade, so England have to find a way to get that to flourish in the 50-over game.”
The 26-year-old’s only hundred in ODI cricket came against Australia at Chester-Le-Street when the hosts were chasing 305 for victory. He still averages only 34 in 26 ODIs.
With Jos Buttler stepping down after their Champions Trophy debacle, Harry Brook remains the frontrunner to succeed the keeper-batter. However, Boycott disagrees and believes a stop-gap leader would be better at this stage. He wrote:
“The England hierarchy seem to like Brook as a future leader but making him captain in the 50-over team would be a gamble because he has not mastered that type of cricket yet. My view would be do not rush it. It is more important to decide on the make-up of the England team going forward and if there is no one who stands out as captain then look for a stop-gap leader who can inspire and get more out of these players.”
A handful of English players will head to India to join their respective IPL teams. Harry Brook is also committed to play for the Delhi Capitals in the IPL and the England Cricket Board will no doubt be desperate to have as many of their international stars playing in The Hundred as possible, despite Stokes already pulling out as the first match is scheduled for the day after England’s five-Test series against India ends.