The wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was the surprising inspiration for Harry Brook’s century celebration as the England white-ball captain led his side to a one-day international series victory against Sri Lanka with a thrilling, unbeaten 136.
Brook, who was involved in a clash with a nightclub bouncer on the tour of New Zealand earlier this winter, took his gloves off upon reaching his hundred and imitated Austin’s move of bashing beer cans together in the ring before drinking them.
“I think you can work it out if you’ve ever watched wrestling,” said Joe Root, who hit his 20th ODI century to set up England’s innings, with Brook joining him in the 32nd over. “I think that’s his way of doing that, trying to show that he wants that approval from the group. It’s through humour. That’s another area of why he’s going to be a great leader because he has that side to him as well.
“He showed his calmness, his clarity under pressure. He also showed humour as well. Hopefully, it’s received in the right way. Definitely no malice behind it. He’s just trying to have a bit of a joke with his teammates.”
Root hailed Brook’s captaincy after Sri Lanka got off to a rapid start in their chase of 358. “They got off to an absolute flyer in that second innings and he was very calm and knew what he wanted to do,” the 35-year-old said. “A team’s throwing a few punches at you and to be able to stay calm, keep in control of everything was another example of why I think he’s going to be an excellent captain.”
The pair had worked closely together in the nets on Monday and brought their work to the middle, their unbeaten partnership worth 191. “We were just talking about angles, using our sweeps, being able to pull the ball from different lines, maybe slightly unconventional to what you do in England or other parts of the world, that can be really effective here.
“When you’ve got his ability and his skill level he can put it into practice straight away and it’s just phenomenal to see him take that from yesterday into today. And that’s what we want from any team, you want to be sharing ideas and experience and if there’s anyway you can add to the guys around you and help them that’s your role as a senior player within the team.
“I enjoyed watching it from the other end and I’m sure everyone enjoyed watching it in the stands and on the TV as well.”
