Harry Brook, the newly appointed England national cricket team’s Test vice-captain, has given his thoughts on Australian national cricket team captain Pat Cummins’ reported absence from the first Test of the Ashes in 2025-26.
Harry Brook said Pat Cummins has been a great bowler for a long time and he expects him to play in the England team’s hands Down Under in his absence.
Harry Brooke wants to take the urn home
England, led by Ben Stokes, will play in the highly anticipated Ashes series in Australia in November, December and January. The first Test will be played at Optus Stadium in Perth from November 21-25, followed by the second Test at The Gabba in Brisbane from December 4-8.
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The third Test will then be held at Adelaide Oval from 17 to 21 December, and the fourth Test will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from 26 to 30 December. The final match of the series will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) from 4 to 8 January 2026.
England did quite poorly against Australia, but we hope to see a better performance this time. Their chances of a strong showing have become even more likely with reports that Pat Cummins is suffering from an injury and could miss the series opener.
On this, Brook said that while Pat Cummins’ absence is good news for England, other Australian bowlers cannot be taken lightly either.
“He’s a great bowler and has been for many years,” Brook said in partnership with Toyota at the PCA awards ceremony on Thursday night, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. “He bowls with high pace and with great skill. From what we saw with him being left out of the squad in the first game, we hope that will play into our hands… (but) we can’t take anyone lightly.”
“I don’t know what I’m walking into. I know it’s tough, but I’m still trying to get through that India series. It was great to be a part of. It was huge to play 25 out of 25 days. It was the most intense series I’ve ever been a part of. If The Ashes top that, I’ll be a very happy man.”
I don’t have much experience of pitching there – Harry Brook
Harry Brook has never played a Test match on Australian soil and the upcoming tour is likely to be a big challenge. Overall, he played in Australia’s BBL at the age of 22 and only scored 56 runs in five innings.
Meanwhile, Brooke further admitted that she doesn’t know much about the situation in Australia, adding that she intends to go Down Under with a clear mind. Harry Brook said:
“Obviously it’s intense. To be honest, I don’t remember too much about the 2023 Ashes. It’s a very similar group of players that we’re up against. It’s a very strong bowling attack and it’s going to present a different challenge on home ground. I don’t have a lot of experience of the pitch there so we’ve got to stay in the moment as much as possible and play with what’s in front of us.”
“To be honest, I think white ball and red ball are completely different sports. I’m going to go into it with a clear mindset.”
I want to be the winner of the game – Harry Brook
Harry Brook, who was recently named Player of the Series for England at the Anderson Tendulkar Trophy, said he wants to be the right match-winner. he said:
“I don’t think about it too much. I want to win games. If my team is in a little bit of a bind, I want to get out of it. I’ve done pretty well in my career so far. If that means I can score 75 points and get out of a bind for a while and get my team in a better position, I’d rather have that than score 100 points and lose a game.”
The young batsman also said he was honored to be made the Test vice-captain and expected Ben Stokes to play in all five Ashes Tests. he said:
“To be honest, I think Stokesey has played in all five Tests. Even if he’s been a bit off, I think he’ll come through strong.”
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