London [UK], August 17 : Former England captain Michael Atherton said the omission of young, rising batting sensation Harry Brook from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 squad was largely due to Ben Stokes' return to the ODI format after reversing his retirement.
England's Test skipper has reversed his ODI retirement to help out world champions England defend their crown in India from October 5 onwards. He is a part of the 15-man squad as a specialist batter and will also play white-ball series against New Zealand from September 8 onwards.
This has left no room for big-hitting Brook, who has been impressive in his 12 Tests for England, scoring 1,181 runs at an average of over 62 with four centuries and seven fifties in 20 innings. He has managed a fifty in three ODIs he has played and has 86 runs in the format. He has also scored 372 runs in 20 innings at an average of 26.57 with one fifty.
"Harry Brook is the unlucky one," Atherton said as quoted by Sky Sports.
"That will be the bone of contention I think for many people looking at the squad - how a terrific young player like Brook cannot get in there."
"It really is a consequence of the Stokes selection and the fact he has come out of retirement. Then, how do you get him in? They want Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow."
"They have retained faith with Roy and Bairstow at the top of the order, Dawid Malan is cover for the top order there, Liam Livingstone provides cover for Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali in the spin department, so in the end, it is Brook who has given way."
"If you said to the selectors 'do you want Brook in your team?' they would say yes, but they just do not feel as though they can fit him in," he concluded.
During the England's first-ever 50-over World Cup triumph back in 2019, Stokes played a key role, producing some clutch knocks, scoring 465 runs in 10 innings at an average of 66.43, with five fifties. This also included an unbeaten 84 in the final against New Zealand. He also took seven wickets.
Due to his heroic past performances in World Cup 2019 and his ability to perform brilliantly almost all the time under the pressure of big matches, England made attempts to make Stokes reconsider his retirement in ODIs and assist his side in defending their World Cup title.
He had last played an ODI in July 2022 against Sout h Africa. In 105 ODIs, he has scored 2,924 runs at an average of 38.98 and a strike rate of above 95. He has three centuries and 21 fifties in 90 innings. He has also taken 74 wickets in the format with the best figures of 5/61.
But Stokes will be used as a batter purely in order to prevent any further damage to his left knee, damage to which restricted his ability to bowl during The Ashes series and allowed him to play only two matches for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, which saw Men in Yellow win their fifth title.
Atherton feels that the lure of playing with England as defending champions proved to be too much for Stokes to ignore.
Atherton believes the lure of playing in another World Cup, particularly with England as defending champions, proved too great for Stokes and that he was always going to be recalled once he had decided to make himself available for ODI selection again.
"I think it is great news for England and for England fans who will be delighted to see such a great cricketer come back," Atherton said.
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Wednesday announced their 15-person provisional squad for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in India.
England has made a number of big calls with their initial squad for this year’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, with all-rounder Ben Stokes named in a group of 15 players that does not include young batter Harry Brook and star quick Jofra Archer.
Luke Wright, the national selector, also revealed Archer would only be included in England’s World Cup plans as a travelling reserve.
England's provisional squad for the World Cup: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.
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