"Wasting his talent in 50 overs" - England legend urges Harry Brook to step up after 2025 Champions Trophy failure

Former England opener Sir Geoffrey Boycott has called for Harry Brook to justify his talent in 50-overs cricket after his failure in the Champions Trophy 2025. Boycott opined that the coaching staff equally needs to take responsibility of telling the youngster that it's a 50-over game and that there is plenty of time.

Although Brook is one of the most free-flowing young batters today and has done well in Tests, he is yet to crack the 50-overs format. The national side were eliminated from the Champions Trophy 2025 after losing all three matches of the group stage. The Yorkshire batter aggregated only 47 runs, with 25 as his highest against Afghanistan.

In his column for The Telegraph, the 84-year-old observed that Brook tries to hit every ball to the boundary even in ODIs as if it's T20s. He wrote:

"Brook is wasting his talent in 50 overs. He bats as if it is T20 and tries to hit every ball. Why do the coach and his coaching staff not sit down and explain to him that in 50 overs you have more time than you think to fashion an innings of substance. Watch Root and how he composes his time in the middle because these short little cameos that Brook makes are not helping England."

The retired cricketer reckons the youngster will benefit from moving to No.3 and that England must somehow get the best out of him in the format, adding:

"Move Brook up to No 3 and tell him he has to accept more responsibility and start batting, not thrashing at every ball. It just might make him knuckle down. We have all seen this lad bat sensibly in Test cricket and then, when he is set, take the opposition bowlers apart with a display that is awesome. He has enormous talent, a talent that only comes once in a decade, so England have to find a way to get that to flourish in the 50-over game."

The 26-year-old's only hundred in ODI cricket came against Australia at Chester-le-Street when the hosts were chasing 305 for victory. He still averages only 34 in 26 ODIs.

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"My view would be do not rush it" - Sir Geoffrey Boycott not in favour of Harry Brook as England's white-ball captain

Sir Geoffrey Boycott. (Image Credits: Getty)

With Jos Buttler stepping down after their Champions Trophy debacle, Brook remains the frontrunner to succeed the keeper-batter. However, Boycott disagrees and believes a stop-gap leader would be better at this stage. He wrote:

"The England hierarchy seem to like Brook as a future leader but making him captain in the 50-over team would be a gamble because he has not mastered that type of cricket yet. My view would be do not rush it. It is more important to decide on the make-up of the England team going forward and if there is no one who stands out as captain then look for a stop-gap leader who can inspire and get more out of these players."

A handful of English players will head to India to join their respective IPL teams.