Birmingham: Newly appointed England whiteball captain Harry Brook has urged his side to move on from the past and focus on producing good performances, much like the commanding display they put up against the West Indies in Birmingham on Thursday, according to the ICC's official website.
England got their home summer off to a superb start at Edgbaston, comfortably defeating the Caribbean team by an outstanding 238-run victory in what was Brook's first game as white-ball captain.
While England will face tougher challenges before the next ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe in 2027, their performance against the West Indies was a significant step forward from what the team has shown in recent years.
England failed to advance beyond the group stages of the most recent 50-over World Cup in India and went winless in the ICC Champions Trophy at the start of this year, while the team has not won a bilateral ODI series since edging past Ireland 1-0 in September 2023.
Since taking over as captain from veteran Jos Buttler, Brook has given fresh life to England's whiteball team, and he believes the squad has a lot to look forward to.
Following the triumph over the West Indies, Brook declared that "it's a new era," according to the ICC's official website.
As I've said numerous times, we're attempting to forget about the past, focus on what's in front of us, and take one game at a time. We performed admirably today, so we may take that confidence with us moving forward, he said.
(It's a) very nice start. To score 400 after being brought in and bowling them out for 162 was a very excellent start for the lads. Hopefully, we can surpass that, he added.
While no English batsmen managed to score a century against the West Indies, four players made half-centuries, with Jacob Bethell's 82 being the highlight in a Player of the Match performance.
Brook appreciated the efforts of England's top order, with Ben Duckett (60), Joe Root (57), and new opener Jamie Smith (37) all performing admirably against the West Indies' speed attack.
The boys at the top got off to a great start, establishing the style for how we wanted to play and how we want to play for the remainder of the series, according to Brook.
Throughout the innings, the pace at which we bowled was nearly perfect. We have plenty of batting depth, which enabled Beth (Bethell) and (Will) Jacks to go out and perform as they did, he said.
I believe that is how everyone should play ODI cricket since you have more time than you realize. I got out with 20 overs to go, and it felt like I was sitting watching for three hours. You can give yourself 10, 15, or 20 balls to get in, and then you'll quickly catch up, he said.
I believe he (Bethell) was on around 40 off 40 balls (38 off 39) and ended up hitting at 140 or 150. That is the nature of the game, and you can catch up very quickly, he said.
The West Indies displayed flashes of their skill at times, with Roston Chase making a couple of great catches during England's innings, but skipper Shai Hope was left to lament some sloppy bowling late in the innings, which allowed the hosts to score 400 and leave the tourists with an extremely difficult run chase.
We did not make the early progress that we had hoped for. If you do not, you will always be playing catch up, according to Hope.
We returned the game rather well. We let it slip towards the finish. He stated that they still have work and evaluation to do.
The second match of the series is set for Cardiff on Sunday, and the final match is set for The Oval in London on Tuesday.
