ENG vs WI | New era about trying to forget past and focus on what's ahead, asserts Brook after ODI win

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Harry Brook got off to a great start as England captain, personally and from the team's perspective, with an ODI win against the West Indies at Edgbaston on May 29

England's new white-ball skipper Harry Brook has revealed the team is concentrated on trying to improve on the future rather than dwell on their failures in recent times. The York praised his fellow batters after they put up 400 in the first ODI against West Indies, with Jacob Bethell top-scoring.

England began their long journey towards the next major ICC ODI event, the World Cup in Africa in 2027, with a mammoth 238-run win against the West Indies at Edgbaston on Thursday. The encounter was Harry Brook's first as full-time skipper of the white-ball squads following Jos Buttler's resignation after the Champions Trophy earlier this year, where they lost all three of their games and crashed out of the group stages. The dismal campaign was the end product of a gradual decay subsequent to the World Cup win in 2019, since which they have slipped to eighth in the ICC rankings and won just three of their nine games at the 2023 World Cup.

Nevertheless, Brook's reign began with optimism, as the Three Lions became the first team to post a total of 400 without a single centurion. Fifties from Ben Duckett, Joe Root, and Harry Brook set the foundation for the hosts, before Jacob Bethell provided the finishing touches with a blistering 82 off just 53 deliveries. Saqib Mahmood and Jamie Overton's three scalps each then proved to be the cherry on top as their Caribbean rivals were bowled out for 162.

‌"It's a new era. Like I've said so many times, we're trying to forget about the past, only focus on what's ahead of us, and take one game at a time. We've done pretty well today so we can take that confidence going forward... to get 400 after being put in and bowl them out for 162 was a pretty exceptional start from the boys. Hopefully we can top that," Brook said after the win.

It was also the first time all seven batters of a team had scored in excess of 30 in an ODI with Jamie Smith playing a rapid cameo in his new role as opener, followed by middle-order blitzes from Buttler and Will Jacks.

"The boys up top started beautifully and set the template for how we wanted to play and how we want to play for the rest of the series. The tempo we batted with throughout the innings was pretty much spot on. We have a lot of depth in our batting, which gave the opportunity to Beth and Jacks to go out there and do what they did.

"I think that's the way everyone should play in ODI cricket - you've got a lot longer than you think. I got out with 20 overs to go and I felt like I was sat watching for about three hours. You can give yourself 10, 15, or 20 balls to get in and then you can soon catch up. I think he (Bethell) was on about 40 from 40 balls (38 off 39) and he ended up striking at 140 or 150. That's the type of game it is and you can catch up very quickly," Brook concluded.

England will have a chance to wrap the series when they next take on the Windies in Cardiff on June 1.