Here is the full transcript of England captain Harry Brook’s post-match press conference after their semi-final loss to India in the ICC T20 World Cup.
(Reporter:)
Harry, I know you must have a million things going through your mind, but then what is your overwhelming reaction?
(Harry Brook 🙂
Yeah, disappointed but extremely proud. To be honest, as a captain I couldn’t ask for more. I think we’ve had an amazing campaign and I said the other day we were never out of the game and that was proven again tonight we were in the game all the way to the end and yes I’m hugely proud of the lads and all the lads should be hugely proud of themselves too.
(Reporter:)
Jacob was amazing, he obviously grabbed the headlines tonight, I don’t think for the first time this winter, do England really have a gem there?
(Harry Brook 🙂
Yes, absolutely. He is a phenomenal player as we saw tonight in a high pressure situation against India on their home turf. The way he played that innings there was just phenomenal. Again, he should be extremely proud of what he did tonight and all this winter and even at the end of our summer he was incredible. He’s going to have one hell of a career with England and I’m looking forward to hopefully spending a lot of time with him in the future.
(Reporter:)
There was a small fork in the Indian innings. Did that drop of Samson play a bit on your mind?
(Harry Brook 🙂
Yeah, catchers win games, right? Unfortunately, it didn’t stay in my hands. It’s just one of those things, unfortunately I didn’t catch it. He also played very good innings and probably won them.
(Reporter:)
Does it linger – did you think further or did you just sort of park it and move on?
(Harry Brook 🙂
Sure it’s in the back of your mind. I kept looking at the scoreboard and he was piling up runs. I was like I have to get an 89 tonight. Yeah, not ideal, but now it happened.
(Reporter:)
Finally, your first tournament in the books. I think you obviously touched on that a little bit earlier and said you’re proud. How do you rate the tournament?
(Harry Brook 🙂
Yeah, I mean, like I said, we didn’t drop a game until the end in this competition. I’m extremely proud of how the guys stuck to their guns. They did everything I asked them to do. Baz and I asked them and the coaches. We were a tough team to beat, even in tough situations. Unfortunately we didn’t win tonight, but again we should be extremely proud of how we almost got 250 on their home ground, with them having the best plans in the competition.
(Reporter:)
It is the most runs England have ever conceded in a T20 and also the most by India. But can you just talk me through your thinking and decision making when you were trying to stop the flow?
(Harry Brook 🙂
Yeah, it’s hard. They just have batsmen coming from all over. They have very good players. They are pure attackers. If you don’t make it, you go to six or four. And unfortunately we probably didn’t perform as well as we could have tonight. And that cost us a bit and along with some drops there too. And yes, as I said before, I am extremely proud of the way the boys played this competition.
(Reporter:)
I think you said yesterday that you have a team that never knows they’re beaten. I think when you came in for the start of your innings today, the win predictions had England in the single digit percentage chance of winning, but your team never took it, never and stayed in it until, I guess, the 17th, 18th over. How do you feel about it?
(Harry Brook 🙂
Yes, extremely proud again. They did everything we asked them to do. They fought their butts off and almost every game we were in the game until the last ball. We’ve got some extremely good players there, some extremely tough characters as well, to play some of the innings that we’ve done in this competition and deliver some of the upsets that we’ve done as well. Yeah, we had a very good campaign and unfortunately it didn’t pay off tonight.
(Reporter:)
Harry, you know there is talk about Brendan’s position in this tournament after what happened in Australia. Did that performance in the second half of that game show that you still play for him?
(Harry Brook 🙂
Yeah, I’ve said many times he’s the best coach I’ve ever had, the best head coach I’ve ever had. The way he talks to everyone, the way he has an aura in the dressing room, everyone looks up to him. The things he did in the game as a player were incredible and he carried that over into his coaching. The things he has done in the four years since he took over have changed English cricket for hopefully the best. Like I said, he’s the best head coach I’ve ever had.
(Reporter:)
If ECB chiefs asked you for your opinion on whether he should stay, what would you say?
(Harry Brook 🙂
125%.
(Reporter:)
Harry, can you please think about your wicket, ball and catch? And in the final analysis, 1 for 33 from Bumrah, how much of an impact did it have on the bottom line?
(Harry Brook 🙂
Yeah, he’s a very good bowler, probably the best of all time. And yes, he has been a very good pitcher for a long time. The Indians stood up very well. This catch is probably one of the best catches I’ve seen. So hats off to them.
(Reporter:)
In the end Jacob took it to one run, just one six at the end that was almost it – can you talk about playing innings like that in your career? What happens in T20 in pressure and the pressure keeps building and you are still in that zone like a batter? And can you relate that to what Bethell did today?
(Harry Brook 🙂
Yeah, he was in his own bubble and it’s an amazing feeling. You feel like you could hit almost every ball for a six and it was one of those innings tonight where he did that and it was a ridiculous knock. As I said earlier, he should be extremely proud of what he did tonight and he has been phenomenal this winter and will be a very good player for England in the long term.
(Reporter:)
I think T20 cricket is tactically very difficult for a captain. You don’t have much time to think. How do you think you did as a tactician in this tournament and how much did Baz put into the tactics you took to the court with? How much do you have and how much does he have?
(Harry Brook 🙂
I feel like I did pretty well to be honest. I’m quite an instinctive captain, I make decisions on the field and we get a lot of messages from Baz off the field as well. Our partnership has been good throughout this competition and since I took over. We got along very well and as I said the communication throughout the competition and before this competition was excellent and hopefully will continue for a long time.
(Reporter:)
Bad luck today. I just wanted to know about one area and aspect that you did well tonight and that was against the Indian spinners. Seven overs, 99 for two wickets is pretty good work I believe. Could you please shed some light on the planning you did against the Indian spinners? Like most of your batting, Varun Chakravarthy plays mostly on the back foot. So if you can tell something about the planning you have done against the Indian spinners.
(Harry Brook 🙂
Yeah, it’s funny because every time someone asks us about spinners, you usually slap us. So it’s nice if I praise it once in a while. But yes, we found out that Chakravarthy’s missus is probably short and Bethel dumped him soon. And like any bowler, he tried to drive a bit more and hit it back over his head for a six. And I think it’s just cricket smarts and just trying to figure out what their bowling attack is trying to do and the matches as well. So if as a left handed batsman you are facing a left arm spinner it is your match you have to try and take it big.
(Reporter:)
I know T20 cricket is all about batting, but when you have such a plethora of surfaces and the bowlers are reduced to mere bowling machines, how difficult is it as a captain to manage the bowlers, manage the situations? Because at the end, again, today the margin was seven runs in the 250-run chase.
(Harry Brook 🙂
Yeah, it’s hard. And when the opposition went the way they did, they played extremely well. And as I said before, we executed poorly and the ball went out of the park. You have to try and take your time. I know T20 cricket is a fast game but you have to try to make the most of the time you have to settle your nerves or try to stay as calm as possible at the top of your mark. You really have to be all in every serve you try to hit the ball with.
