Nasser Hussain SLAMS Harry Brook's attitude: 'Weak Excuse For Him To...'

Former England captain Nasser Hussain expressed his frustration over England’s ‘hit out or get out’ approach in ODIs and took the case of Harry Brook, who perished against South Africa trying to hit Keshav Maharaj for a six when the need of the hour was stringing together a partnership with Joe Root.

Brook ended the 2025 Champions Trophy having faced just 56 balls across three innings and twice he got out trying to send the opposition lead spinner into the stands. Brook finished CT 2025 with an average of 15.66 and the jury is very much still out on his ability to succeed in 50-over cricket, where he now averages 34.00 after 26 ODIs. 

In his Daily Mail column, Hussain asked Brook to stop giving excuses and adapt quicker.

“I like Brook but it's a bit of a weak excuse for him to say: I'm learning on my feet. Well, learn a bit quicker,” Hussain wrote.

“It's not that difficult to comprehend that you've got 30 more overs to bat. Adapt your scoring tempo according to what the scoreboard tells you.

“Any international batter should be able to do this and although I accept that up-and-coming English cricketers do need access to a better 50-over competition to prepare for future ICC tournaments, these current England players have been around a long time.

“It's not that difficult to work out. You just have to bat a little bit longer, soak up pressure, realise there's an ebb and flow to the game.”

A frustrated Hussain further expressed disappointment over the lack of responsibility shown by some of the English batters, in particular the trio of Brook, Liam Livingstone and Phil Salt.

“I would drag Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone and Harry Brook across and tell them that talent is about winning games, not playing the best shot of the day,” Hussain wrote.

“Salt plays every innings like it's a Twenty20 match. Livingstone talks about taking responsibility when he's batted a bit higher up the order, but lower down always plays as if it's the last four overs. 

“On Saturday, Brook was batting with England's finest player in Joe Root and needed to take the innings deep.

“Brook could learn from Root in this regard, someone who looked at his game and took out high risk elements like the reverse scoop and played situations.”

He was further very critical of England’s one-dimensional approach in 50-over cricket, essentially treating it like an extended T20.

“How will England going to play 50-over cricket going forward? Is it just seen as an extension of 20-over cricket? Because every time England are bowled out - across any format - I just hear: 'We didn't go hard enough.',” he wrote.

“As a captain, I'd be having a word with McCullum, making the point that cannot always be the answer. Sometimes, you just need to be smarter. Afghanistan were 37 for three, took stock and ended up getting 325 on the board against England - a score they could defend. England were 37 for three against South Africa on Saturday, continued to go hard - and were bowled out for 179.”