Harry Brook insisted there were positives to come from England’s one-day international defeat in Sri Lanka after their series opener was overshadowed by off-field controversy.
Brooke admitted he was lucky to still be England captain after his altercation with a bouncer at a nightclub in New Zealand last October. The story was only made public after the Ashes lost 4-1 against Australia.
England are also dealing with speculation about the team’s future, with manager Brendan McCollum’s position still in question, and talk surrounding a ‘drinking culture’ following the mid-Ashes trip to Noosa continues.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Harry Brook admits he is lucky to still remain England’s white-ball captain after an altercation with a nightclub bouncer the night before a match.
England were thrashed by Sri Lanka’s spinners by 19 runs in Colombo, with the tourists losing the three-match ODI series 1-0 as the morale-boosting win Brook’s side craved disappeared.
“I’m excited to get back to my day job,” Brooke said. “Unfortunately we lost the game, but there are a lot of positives to take from today.”
Kusal Mendis’ unbeaten 93 and Dunith Wellalage’s smash of 25 off 12 balls helped Sri Lanka set a Test target in Colombo, but half-centuries from Joe Root and Ben Duckett looked set to give England the advantage chasing 272 under the lights.
England slipped from 129-1 to 165-6 in 12 disappointing overs as Sri Lanka’s spinners took control, and the tourists were eventually dismissed from the final despite Jamie Overton’s late 34-run cameo.
“With the batting power we had, all we had to do was start with a flyer to break the chase,” insisted Brook. “Another day we knocked down three. The pitch got a little more extreme and the lack of spin and bounce made it very difficult to get a start as a batsman.
“Ducky (Ben Duckett) and Rooty (Joe Root) looked very easy when they set and went, but they both said it was difficult to get going and get going from there, just because of the lack of spin, bounce and sometimes slip.
Ben Duckett top-scored for England with 62 off 76 deliveries.
“That’s something we have to look at as a batting unit and hopefully we can get some positive results in the next few games.”
Brooke: Sri Lanka deserved the win
England have lost 11 of their 15 50-over matches in 2025, and back-to-back defeats in Sri Lanka would raise the embarrassing prospect of them missing out on an automatic qualification for the 2027 World Cup.
Sri Lanka can complete their series win with the remaining matches with another win at the same venue on Saturday.
“There’s been so much talk about it over the past year, but we want to try to stay in the moment as much as possible,” admitted Brook. “Sri Lanka outperformed us there.”
Brook said of Sri Lanka in his post-match presentation: “(The toss) was very important at the end but Sri Lanka played very well there and deserved the win.”
“I thought we batted really well through the middle, the spinners batted exceptionally well. Sure they caught us in the last over, but that’s part of white-ball cricket.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Despite losing the Ashes 4-1, Brendon McCullum insisted earlier this month that he wanted to remain as England manager.
“They are a very good team, they have very good spinners as well. They were coming off the surface enough to make us miss the ball. They challenged us in various departments and played well.”
Sri Lanka England – results and fixtures
Always UK and Ireland
- 1st ODI (January 22, Colombo) – Sri Lanka wins by 19 points
- Second ODI (Saturday 24 January) – Colombo (9am)
- Third ODI (Tuesday 27 January) – Colombo (9am)
- First T20 (Friday 30 January) – Palette play (1:30 p.m.)
- Second T20 (Sunday 1 February) – Palette play (1:30 p.m.)
- Third T20 (Tuesday 3 February) – Palette play (1:30 p.m.)
