Brook admits pressure got to his side
“If we get all the basic and simple things right, like bowling
straight and making them play, there is no reason why we cannot bowl
them out for under 150 and knock those runs off with two or three
wickets down.”
Harry Brook, the captain of the England Under-19 side, was brimming with confidence in a chat with Wisden India on the eve of the quarterfinal of the 2018 Under-19 against Australia. To be fair, England were coming into the match on the back of an unbeaten run in the group stages, and his prophecy about the ‘junior Ashes’ clash on Tuesday (January 23) almost come true.
England’s bowlers rattled the Aussies, restricting them to 127, but something went very wrong with the second part of the prediction.
After a good start, the batsmen fell like nine pins against the spin assault from Lloyd Pope, who registered record-breaking figures of 8 for 35 to wrap up England’s pursuit in just 23.4 overs, toppling them over for just 96 to end their semifinal hopes.
“Massively disappointed, as you can tell. To get them (Australia) out for 127 was incredible, but not being able to knock those runs off was really disappointing,” a devastated Brook lamented. “I think there was a lot of pressure, given we lost so many wickets in a heap. I still backed ourselves to knock those runs off even with us six down. But unfortunately, it just did not work out.”
At the halfway mark, the mood in the two camps was absolutely contrasting to how it turned out at the end. The England players were full of energy and some of the Australians had their heads down, probably regretting their effort – or the lack of it – with the bat. By lunch, however, Australia had fought their way back by pegging England back at 72 for 5.
“We didn’t really need to say much to each other at the halfway mark,” Brook revealed. “We had to go at 1.5 runs an over, so all we needed to do was knock it around for a few overs and if we still had wickets in hand, get over the line with ease. We lost some wickets fairly quickly after the break, and that didn’t help us at all.”
England looked like they were cruising to an easy win at one stage, with Tom Banton hitting three consecutive fours off Ryan Hadley in the seventh over, and the scoreboard reading 47 without loss.
“We did not have any plans of attacking as such, but it just happened to be that way today,” Brook clarified. “He (Banton) bats like that in most games. He was doing a great job till he unfortunately got out in a silly kind of way.”
Pope, in fact, was brought on immediately after that assault from Banton on Hadley. He triggered the collapse instantly, sending back Liam Banks and Brook off successive deliveries.
“He bowls pretty quick, and he was always attacking the stumps,” Brook pointed out. “Their fielders fielded really well too and he bowled a lot of good bowls, he was exceptionally good. We played spin exceptionally well right through the tournament, but he got the ball to spin and bowled really well overall. I can say that we played a few bad shots too, but well, the day goes on.”
When England were not wilting against Pope’s marvellous bowling, they
were finding ways to throw their wickets away in the weirdest of ways. A
terrible mix-up between Jack Davies and Tom Scriven, which led to the
latter being run out by Jonathan Merlo, was a clear giveaway of the
nervousness in the England camp.
“There was a lot of pressure, and that run out was quite panicky,” Brook admitted. “But that’s what happens in big collapses. Getting through to the quarterfinals was a great achievement, but I am not the kind who likes to finish second. I am pretty disappointed.”
England will now battle for the fifth place, starting with the playoff semifinal at the same venue on Saturday. Motivating the players for that, however, is going to be a tough job for Brooks and the support staff.
“It is going to be really hard, especially after a defeat like that,” he confessed. “I am sure the coach will have a lot of things to say to us, but right now, the lads are very, very disappointed.”
Jon Lewis, the England head coach, said a few words to comfort the boys after the shock defeat, but he was clearly frustrated by the manner in which the team went down.
“I already spoke to the guys about their journey towards becoming great sportsmen,” he said. “You win some, you lose some, but you learn from dealing with pressure situations and how you react when put under pressure in front of everyone. The captain has been outstanding, he didn’t get runs today but he’s played superbly.
“All these players are nowhere near being finished players. They are all still developing and for them to experience the joy of playing in a World Cup for the country will be an experience to cherish. The way this group gets on is brilliant, both on and off the field. I know they will stick together. Yes, we have taken a big knock and this will be tough for them. It won’t feel nice now, it won’t feel nice when they reflect on this three or four weeks later, but this should spur them on to even greater heights in the future.”
Harry
Brook, the England captain, was terribly disappointed in the way the
batsmen were unable to chase down an easy target. © ICC
Harry Brook, the captain of the England Under-19 side, was brimming with confidence in a chat with Wisden India on the eve of the quarterfinal of the 2018 Under-19 against Australia. To be fair, England were coming into the match on the back of an unbeaten run in the group stages, and his prophecy about the ‘junior Ashes’ clash on Tuesday (January 23) almost come true.
England’s bowlers rattled the Aussies, restricting them to 127, but something went very wrong with the second part of the prediction.
After a good start, the batsmen fell like nine pins against the spin assault from Lloyd Pope, who registered record-breaking figures of 8 for 35 to wrap up England’s pursuit in just 23.4 overs, toppling them over for just 96 to end their semifinal hopes.
“Massively disappointed, as you can tell. To get them (Australia) out for 127 was incredible, but not being able to knock those runs off was really disappointing,” a devastated Brook lamented. “I think there was a lot of pressure, given we lost so many wickets in a heap. I still backed ourselves to knock those runs off even with us six down. But unfortunately, it just did not work out.”
At the halfway mark, the mood in the two camps was absolutely contrasting to how it turned out at the end. The England players were full of energy and some of the Australians had their heads down, probably regretting their effort – or the lack of it – with the bat. By lunch, however, Australia had fought their way back by pegging England back at 72 for 5.
“We didn’t really need to say much to each other at the halfway mark,” Brook revealed. “We had to go at 1.5 runs an over, so all we needed to do was knock it around for a few overs and if we still had wickets in hand, get over the line with ease. We lost some wickets fairly quickly after the break, and that didn’t help us at all.”
England looked like they were cruising to an easy win at one stage, with Tom Banton hitting three consecutive fours off Ryan Hadley in the seventh over, and the scoreboard reading 47 without loss.
“We did not have any plans of attacking as such, but it just happened to be that way today,” Brook clarified. “He (Banton) bats like that in most games. He was doing a great job till he unfortunately got out in a silly kind of way.”
Pope, in fact, was brought on immediately after that assault from Banton on Hadley. He triggered the collapse instantly, sending back Liam Banks and Brook off successive deliveries.
“He bowls pretty quick, and he was always attacking the stumps,” Brook pointed out. “Their fielders fielded really well too and he bowled a lot of good bowls, he was exceptionally good. We played spin exceptionally well right through the tournament, but he got the ball to spin and bowled really well overall. I can say that we played a few bad shots too, but well, the day goes on.”
Brook conceded that it would take his side a couple of days to get over the Australia defeat. © Getty Images
“There was a lot of pressure, and that run out was quite panicky,” Brook admitted. “But that’s what happens in big collapses. Getting through to the quarterfinals was a great achievement, but I am not the kind who likes to finish second. I am pretty disappointed.”
England will now battle for the fifth place, starting with the playoff semifinal at the same venue on Saturday. Motivating the players for that, however, is going to be a tough job for Brooks and the support staff.
“It is going to be really hard, especially after a defeat like that,” he confessed. “I am sure the coach will have a lot of things to say to us, but right now, the lads are very, very disappointed.”
Jon Lewis, the England head coach, said a few words to comfort the boys after the shock defeat, but he was clearly frustrated by the manner in which the team went down.
“I already spoke to the guys about their journey towards becoming great sportsmen,” he said. “You win some, you lose some, but you learn from dealing with pressure situations and how you react when put under pressure in front of everyone. The captain has been outstanding, he didn’t get runs today but he’s played superbly.
“All these players are nowhere near being finished players. They are all still developing and for them to experience the joy of playing in a World Cup for the country will be an experience to cherish. The way this group gets on is brilliant, both on and off the field. I know they will stick together. Yes, we have taken a big knock and this will be tough for them. It won’t feel nice now, it won’t feel nice when they reflect on this three or four weeks later, but this should spur them on to even greater heights in the future.”
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