Brook challenges Crawley, Cox to push for England white-ball call-ups

Harry Brook has challenged Zak Crawley and Jordan Cox to back up their performances in the Hundred in order to break into his England white-ball set-up.

Brook, whose Northern Superchargers were knocked out of the Hundred on Saturday night after their Eliminator against Trent Rockets was abandoned, took over from Jos Buttler as England's limited-overs captain in April. He now faces a tight turnaround before the first of their three ODIs against South Africa starts on Tuesday at Headingley, followed by three T20Is against the same opposition.

He has spent the last three years playing Test cricket alongside Crawley, and is understood to have pushed hard for Superchargers to sign him on a lucrative £120,000 deal in March's draft. Brook's advocacy was rewarded by Crawley's 280-run season, which left him third in the men's run charts ahead of Sunday's final, behind only Cox (327) and Buttler (283).

Crawley has played 59 Tests but only eight ODIs - most recently in December 2023 - and is uncapped in T20Is. Cox, meanwhile, won three ODI and two T20I caps last year and was a surprising omission from next month's squads after his recent form - not least for England's three T20Is in Ireland, from which Brook, Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith have all been rested.

"Everybody's in the mix: whoever does well," Brook said on Saturday night. "He [Crawley] obviously has the attributes that we're talking about: putting pressure on the bowlers with their good and bad balls; he can manipulate the field really well; he's good against fast bowling and he's good against spin. He's got all the attributes to play white-ball [cricket] for England.

"It's the same with everybody. Everybody's been talking about Jordan Cox: he's obviously an unbelievable player, alongside Creeps. You've just got to keep on doing it, and be as consistent as you can for a long period of time… It's good to have competition [for places]."

Brook has hardly had a day off since the start of England's international summer in May but said that he has managed his time well during the Hundred: "I've said a million times that England cricket gets my priority. I've been trying my best throughout this competition to stay as fresh as I can for England."

Northern Superchargers had never previously qualified for the knockout stages of the men's Hundred, missing out on Net Run Rate last year, and were denied the chance to reach the final for the first time by the rain on Saturday night. Brook has now won 10 out of 14 completed matches as captain since taking over ahead of last season, and remained upbeat.

"It's unfortunate that we didn't get through - but that's cricket," he said after Rockets progressed to Sunday's final by virtue of a higher group-stage finish. "We've had an unbelievable season. This comp's been so much fun, playing with some really good lads and alongside Fred [head coach Andrew Flintoff] who is an absolute legend, so I've had a lot of fun."