Many of Brendon McCullum’s decisions were panned as England tumbled to a largely self-inflicted 4-1 Ashes defeat this winter – but his latest call paid off handsomely.The head coach told white-ball captain Harry Brook that he was going to promote him to No 3 for the T20 World Cup game against Pakistan and Brook proceeded to crack a 50-ball century in a two-wicket win that took the team into the semi-finals.
“Baz [McCullum] was the mastermind there,” Brook said. “He had the discussion with me this morning about going up the order and trying to maximise the powerplay. Thankfully, it paid off.”
In truth, though, the skipper coming in at first drop was hardly an out-there move.
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England captain Brook says he has been keen to move up the order for a while
It was what former England all-rounder Moeen Ali had suggested should happen before the game, with Brook having batted exclusively at No 5 in T20Is in 2026 to that point.
And it was, as we found out after the match when Brook spoke to Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton at the presentation, what the man himself wanted. “I have been thinking about it for while,” he revealed.
It just appeared a common-sense decision all round.
Get your best player in a position where he can face a substantial number of deliveries, especially with the guy who has been your best player for years – Jos Buttler – really toiling at the top of the order and the finishing role Brook had previously been earmarked for being performed admirably by Will Jacks.’Whenever we lose against England, it’s always Brook’Brook was into the game second ball in Pallekele on Tuesday after Buttler’s opening partner Phil Salt snicked off for a golden duck.
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Full highlights at England beat Pakistan by two wickets to reach the T20 World Cup semi-finals
The captain was quickly into his work after getting off…
2026-02-24 19:30:00
