Harry Brook has expressed his willingness to take up England's Test captaincy following Ben Stokes' unexpected retirement from international cricket. Brook, who is the incumbent Test vice-captain and leader of the limited-overs side, is of the view that captaining the England Test team would be a tremendous privilege. Brook further said that he is prepared to embrace the challenge if given the opportunity.
Notably, Brook was not considered to captain England during the second Test against New Zealand at The Oval when Stokes was left out of the playing XI following the nightclub controversy. In Stokes' absence, the management handed the role to experienced batter Joe Root, who had previously led England in Test cricket.
"Look, it would be a great honour to do it; it'd be a privilege to do it, to captain England in the highest format of our game, the pinnacle, I think it is. Playing Test cricket is the greatest thing that I've ever done in my life, and it's a dream and something that I've always wanted to do since I could speak. Look, it's not up to me, that decision, but if I got offered it then I'd be happy to take it," Brook said at the press conference ahead of the first T20I against India.
Brook also made it clear that he is fully committed to guiding England to new heights, underlining his absence from frachise leagues IPL and PSL.
"I think it would be a tough job, but everything's tough in cricket. It's a hard sport. I've committed completely to England cricket. I've said I don't want to play any franchise cricket barring the Hundred. Whatever I do, on and off the field, is to try and perform as well as I possibly can for England. Hence the reason I don't play in the IPL and PSL and all the other franchise competitions," Brook said.