CHESTER-LE-STREET: Harry Brook said he was relieved after his first one-day international hundred paved the way for his first win as England captain. After heavy defeats to world champions Australia at Trent Bridge and Headingley, England needed a win at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday to keep their five-match streak alive. Brook went into bat with England struggling at 11-2 after Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc removed both openers. But the 25-year-old Yorkshireman responded with a brilliant 110 not out. He received excellent support from Will Jacks (84) in a match-changing stand of 156. By the time rain curtailed England’s pursuit of a target of 305, they had done enough to win by 46 runs by the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method. It was further evidence of Brook’s talent and temperament as the debutant captain led England in the series in place of the injured Jose Buttler, who was appearing in his 18th ODI. Brook was just glad to be back running. “I’m relieved, for sure,” he told reporters. “It’s nice to get the first hundred on the board and I hope there will be many more. “I feel like I’ve been a bit stop-start this summer. I’ve had a lot of starts – 30 and 40 – and then I haven’t been able to convert, which is frustrating. “To do that today, I feel like I’m back in a good place. Of course it’s nice to score runs against Australia, but to score runs is amazing no matter who it’s against.” Brook came under fire for his post-match comments after England’s opening defeat in Nottingham when he tried to explain away some lopsided dismissals by saying: “If you get caught somewhere on the boundary or in the field, who cares?” But Brook was adamant that he had been misunderstood. “I think people took it a little bit the wrong way,” he said. “You have to go out and play fearlessly and almost have that ‘who cares?’ attitude, but it’s not ‘who cares if we lose?’ We all want to win, but you don’t want to go out and be afraid of getting knocked out. “You’ve seen it so many times in a Test environment, early on Stokesy (red-ball England captain Ben Stokes) was caught in the middle, which is unheard of before, so you have to go out. that fearless attitude and try to transfer that to the bowlers.” Australia coach Andrew McDonald had to rue the absence of key player Adam Zampa, a late withdrawal due to illness, as England ended his side’s 14-match ODI winning streak. McDonald had no doubts about Brook’s qualities, saying: “Full credit to Harry. He is an impressive player and will have a long career in England.” “We’re going to have a headache from the trip. The way he played, the way he led today … sometimes you have to take your hat off to the opponent. This is one of those times.”
