Harry Brook rejects criticism as England struggle against spin

Defeated yet defiant, England captain Harry Brook rejected criticism that his batters are susceptible to quality spin bowling even though their frailties stood thoroughly exposed in the 30-run loss to the West Indies in a group C clash of the T20 World Cup. As many as six England batters fell to spinners here as England rolled over for 166 in 19 overs in reply to the West Indies’ formidable 196/6 here at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday night.

The surface remained true for batting but also provided significant amount of grip and turn to the spin bowlers. Gudakesh Motie (3/33) broke the back of England’s chase while Roston Chase (2/29) made the most of the conditions with Akeal Hosein (1/32) also keeping a tight leash. “I don’t think so,” Brook retorted when asked if England continue to struggle against spin. He instead pointed out their 3-0 victory over a spin-heavy Sri Lanka just before the T20 World Cup.

“That series against Sri Lanka showed that. I thought we played spin really well out there. They bowled (West Indies) well. They kept themselves in the game the whole time. We lost quite a few wickets in clusters, which never really helps,” he said. England had just about managed to beat minnows Nepal in their lung-opener, scampering home by four runs. The West Indies, in contrast, have looked solid with two consecutive wins now. Brook said England had planned for dew to come into play in the second half but the conditions did not change as per their exppectations.

“We didn’t quite execute well enough with the ball and they probably got 15-20 (runs) too many,” Brook said. “We thought it (197-run target) was chaseable, definitely. We planned for dew and it didn’t quite get as dewy as we thought, and it didn’t quite slide onto the bat as much as we were expecting. “Chasing nearly 200 is always a big ask and we thought the pitch would get a little bit better and it’d slide onto the bat a bit more, that didn’t happen,” the England captain added. Hope pleased with Windies show: In contrast, West Indies captain Shai Hope was quite pleased with the fact that his team had now recorded two confident wins in the tournament.

“Maybe (our score) was just around par, but still happy to get something on the board. It is a World Cup game and that in itself could be extra 10-20 runs. So just important for us to make sure we try to maximise as best as we can and then execute with the ball after,” he said. Hope said the inclusion of Test skipper Chase, who played an all-round part in West Indies’ win, was meant to maximise the skills of the playing eleven and the move got the desired result.

“It was a tactical change. He’s one of those players who can come in and call at any moment in time. We understood the threat that they have with some of those left-handers who can take the game away from us,” Hope said. “He’s one of those bowlers who can come in and (we can) depend on any point in time. We saw he was very crucial and essential with the bat in our batting innings as well. “He gave us some stability (and) he’s one of those utility players that you can never neglect,” he added.

Hope also praised Sherfane Rutherford for his unbeaten 76 which set up the game for the Caribbean side. “He’s been always a hard worker, especially when it comes to his batting. He’s always very diligent with the way he goes about his preparation, and he would back from his start of his session all the way through to the end if he’s really working on something,” Hope said.

“I don’t think that has changed from time he came into the team all the way until now.” Chase, on his part, did not agree that he had a knack of taking wickets against England in particular.“I don’t think it’s something (to do) with England. Anytime I step on the cricket field, I just want to do the best, if it is for me to bowl tight (or) to take wickets,” he said.