No England captaincy ambitions 'soon', says Brook

Harry Brook says he has no England captaincy ambitions “any time soon”, amid speculation over the future of the white-ball leadership.

Managing director Rob Key has not given any assurances on the positions of white-ball captain Jos Buttler and coach Matthew Mott after England surrendered both the 50-over and T20 World Cups.

Batter Brook, 25, would be a candidate to become skipper if England make a change and is due to lead Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.

"This is my first captaincy role with the Superchargers," he said. "We'll see how that goes and then maybe I'll have a different answer in a couple of months.

"I don't see anything happening any time soon, so I'll just stay in the moment and focus on Test cricket."

Brook will join up with the Superchargers following England's third and final Test against West Indies at Edgbaston, which begins on Friday. The home side are looking to complete a 3-0 clean sweep.

He was part of the England squad for the 50-over World Cup last year, when a horrible campaign included only three wins in nine matches.

Brook also played in the T20 World Cup last month, when England were beaten by eventual champions India in the last four. Despite the run to the semi-finals, England won only one of their four matches against other Test-playing sides.

At the beginning of July, Key was asked if Buttler and Mott would remain in charge and said he would look "at what's the best way for that white-ball team to move forward".

And, speaking on Wednesday, Brook said any questions about the white-ball leadership are "above his pay grade".

As England review their options over the white-ball teams, former captain Eoin Morgan distanced himself on Tuesday from reports he had been approached to replace Mott.

Mystery surrounds the fitness of Buttler, whose participation in this year's Hundred is in doubt. The Manchester Originals captain, 33, had a scan on a calf injury on Monday, but the results have yet to be publicly revealed.

A complicating factor over any change to the England white-ball captaincy is the upcoming schedule.

Their next white-ball series, at home to Australia in September, begins the day after the final Test against Sri Lanka ends and runs to the time when the Test squad would depart for the tour of Pakistan in October.

Similarly, the white-ball tour of West Indies in November is sandwiched between the Test series in Pakistan and New Zealand.

It means Test players like Brook, Test vice-captain Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley, who captained the one-day side last summer, would be incredibly unlikely to be available.

If Buttler is replaced, it would leave current vice-captain Moeen Ali as a potential candidate, but he is 37 and unlikely to have the job for the long term. Sam Curran and Will Jacks are other members of the white-ball squad who could captain, perhaps on a short-term basis.

And Brook said he will prioritise Test cricket, saying the longest format is "top of my list".

"I want to play every Test match I can for England," said Brook, who made his first home hundred in the defeat of West Indies in the second Test at Trent Bridge.

"Test cricket is my priority. I don't want to think too far ahead. The Ashes is a long way away and we have a lot of Test cricket before then. My main focus is to stay in the moment and not get ahead of myself."

The Superchargers captaincy will be a first senior skipper's job for Brook, a former England Under-19 captain. He will link up with Andrew Flintoff, the former England all-rounder in a head coach role for the first time.

"Fred just asked me if I wanted to be captain, he thought I'd do a decent job, so we'll see how we go," said Brook.

"I'll be a fairly chilled captain. We've said that all training will be optional. There's nothing put on you as a player. Just be chilled, relaxed, go out there and express yourself and play."