‘World Cup is the bigger picture’: Harry Brook reacts after England’s crushing defeat by Australia

Mahli Beardman celebrates after taking the wicket of England’s Harry Brook during the first one-day international cricket match between Australia and England in Perth, Australia, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026 Australia’s pace attack gave England a reality check in the opening ODI in Perth, where debutant Mahli Beardman stole the show with a sensational six-wicket haul. England captain Harry Brook acknowledged the youngster’s outstanding performance after the visitors were bundled out for 131 to suffer a seven-wicket defeat at Optus Stadium.Beardman returned figures of 6/24 in 7.4 overs to become the first Australian since Tony Dodemadei in 1988 to take five wickets on his ODI debut. His performance helped Australia take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, leaving England with plenty to deal with ahead of the second match in Adelaide.After the defeat, Brook praised the young Australian pacer for taking advantage of the conditions and hitting the right areas consistently.“Yeah. We’ve been here for about a week and a half. We’ve prepared extremely well. Australia played extremely well. Mahli Beardman was outstanding today. He put the ball in the right areas, got enough of the surface to knock us out and yes, they did a good job with the ball,” Brook said.

England’s batting collapse in Perth

After Australia won the toss and elected to bowl, England struggled to match the pace on offer and bounce back. Tom Banton top scored with 25 while Will Jacks and Gus Atkinson also contributed 25 and 29 unbeaten respectively.However, Beardman’s relentless spell triggered a collapse that saw England slip from 38/2 to 60/7. He removed Brook, Joe Root, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson and Jofra Archer to record the best ODI debut bowling figures by an Australian.Spencer Johnson provided further support with three wickets as England were dismissed for 131 in 33.4 overs.Australia made this chase easy, reaching 132/3 in just 23.3 overs. Captain Mitchell Marsh led from the front with a blistering 50 off 30 deliveries, while Cooper Connolly scored 27 and Matt Renshaw remained unbeaten on 26 as the home side sealed a comfortable seven-wicket victory.

Harry Brook admits England have failed to adapt

Brook admitted that England discussed adapting their approach to different conditions, but failed to execute their plans against Australia’s disciplined bowling attack.“We talked a lot about adaptability. We want to adapt to different surfaces, and like I said earlier, we’re here for a week and a half.“We prepared extremely well. We knew certain shots weren’t working on this pitch but look, the Australian attack was jumping extremely well. They were putting the ball in the right areas for 30 odd overs and we probably didn’t execute our skill well enough,” he added.

The 2027 ODI World Cup remains the bigger picture

With the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa looming, Brook said those tough conditions and experience will be important for England’s preparation. He also insisted his team remained confident of bouncing back despite losing the opening game.“Definitely, and that’s the bigger picture (of the World Cup build-up). We’ve got the World Cup in South Africa in 12 months and those experiences, we’re taking them, learning from them as much as we can. We’re not out of this series yet. We’ve been in that position a few times and bounced back. So hopefully we can do that when we get to Adelaide.”England will now look to level the series in the second ODI in Adelaide before the teams head to Hobart for the final match.