 |
| Advertisement |
England’s white-ball captain Harry Brook shot down any suggestion of tiredness following a second defeat to South Africa on Thursday night.
The hosts were beaten at Lord’s by just five runs, which marked a significant improvement from the seven-wicket trashing they faced at Headingley.
Despite an improved performance, England still lost the series, continuing their poor run of results in the short format.
Looking back on the game, Brook said: “We felt they were 10 or 15 above par, so it was a very good effort for us to get within one blow of their score. I thought the batting unit did really well.
“Chasing 6.5 an over from ball one is a tough task but that’s exactly why we’ve picked this side: we’ve a long batting order.”
A third ODI awaits the hosts in Southampton on Sunday, followed by three T20s against Proteas. The team will then get a hard-earned rest for the three-match trip to Ireland.
Calls to protects Ashes hopefuls
The summer has been gruelling one for a number of England players. Brook, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith are just some of the names who followed up a tough Test series with India by competing in The Hundred.
Following months of constant action, there are suggestions that England should protect their top stars ahead of this winter’s Ashes series.
Brook, however, is of the opposite opinion and does not want to use tiredness as an excuse for recent defeats.
“I’m not selecting the Ashes side,” said the white-ball skipper. “That’s up to (Ben) Stokesy and Baz (Brendon McCullum).
“We want to try and play our strongest side in every white-ball game. We’ve World Cups coming up – the T20 World Cup this winter and the one-day World Cup the following winter.
“It’s easy to say that (we’re tired), but in my eyes that’s just an excuse. We’re good enough and fit enough to be able to keep playing for the time being.
“There’s obviously a bit of a break at the end of this series so it’s one game at a time and try to be fit and raring to go for the rest of this series.”
Is fatigue a serious factor?
England hectic schedule coupled with The Hundred and other competitions have led to a number of criticisms over player fatigue.
The Times, for instance, have been particularly scathing, attributing England’s white-ball struggles with deep exhaustion and poor preparation, made worse by overlapping domestic competitions and a congested calendar.
According to their report, players are burning out. They also claim that England are ‘far from ready’ for upcoming challenges like the Ashes.
England’s Chris Woakes has already been ruled out of the Ashes. The all-rounder dislocated his shoulder during the final Test against India.
Jamie Overton is another casualty of the busy schedule. The player has been ruled out from the Ashes, citing a physical and mental toll caused by playing all three cricket formats all year round.
The Ashes get underway on November 21 in Perth, though there is a lot more cricket to be played before then.
Read next: 7 of the red-hot England stars playing their way into Ashes contention
The post Will England be ready for the Ashes? What Harry Brook thinks to fatigue claims appeared first on Cricket365.
from Cricket365 https://ift.tt/YEgqNn2
0 comments: