Door not closed on Harry Brook for World Cup: Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler. (Photo Source: Twitter)

England made a huge call to drop Harry Brook from their provisional World Cup squad as they picked the talismanic Ben Stokes ahead of him. Stokes, who is England’s red-ball captain, retired from ODI cricket to prolong his career in the two other formats of the game. However, earlier this month, he returned to England’s ODI setup as the team gets ready to defend its World Cup title in India in October-November.

England’s white-ball captain Jos Buttler said that Stokes’ availability “changed the dynamic” for selection but was effusive in his praise for the talented youngster Brook. The wicketkeeper-batter hailed the 24-year-old as a brilliant player and felt that it was unfortunate that a place could not be made available for him for the World Cup. However, he noted that there is still time before the final squad makes the trip to India to play the marquee event.

“There’s still a long time before everyone is meant to get on the plane, so we’ll wait and see what happens. We all know Harry’s a fantastic player and we saw what he can do the other night. It’s not like it’s a surprise: we know what a brilliant player he is, he’s just the unfortunate one at the moment to not be in that squad at the moment. Of course, Ben Stokes coming back and being available just as a batter sort of changes the dynamic a little bit. Ben’s a fantastic player to be able to welcome back, so it’s a really tough selection,” Buttler was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

England set to play white-ball series against New Zealand next week

Buttler and Co. will host New Zealand as the two finalists of the 2019 ODI World Cup lock horns in a four-match T20I series followed by a four-match ODI series. The first T20I will be played in Chester-le-Street on Wednesday, August 30. After that, England will play Ireland in a three-match ODI series at home before going for the warm-up games of the World Cup.