Harry Brook said he was having a “hell of a lot of fun” as England captain after his first series in permanent charge of the white-ball sides ended in a 3-0 clean sweep of the West Indies.<\/p>\n
England recorded their first one-day international series whitewash in three years — when they beat the Netherlands by the same scoreline — following a dominant seven-wicket success at the Oval on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
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Brook’s men made light of a revised target of 246 after rain reduced the match to 40 overs per side.<\/p>\n
Jamie Smith, promoted to open this series, launched the run chase with a dynamic 64 off 28 balls as he posted a maiden ODI fifty in front of his Surrey home crowd.<\/p>\n
Jos Buttler, Brook’s predecessor as limited-overs captain, finished the job with 41 not out as England cruised home with more than 10 overs to spare.<\/p>\n
Yet England came into this series on a seven-match losing streak in ODI cricket, including a woeful Champions Trophy campaign in Pakistan earlier this year that prompted Buttler’s resignation as skipper.<\/p>\n
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“It’s a hell of a lot of fun when you’re enjoying it with a lot of mates,” said Brook, whose attention now turns to a three-match T20 series with the West Indies starting at Chester-le-Street on Friday.<\/p>\n
“I think we’ve got such a good side. The depth in batting is amazing and then we’ve got a lot of skilful bowlers as well.”<\/p>\n
England were back to their best in the field at the Oval after letting their standards slip at Cardiff on Sunday following a 238-run rout of the West Indies in last week’s series opener at Edgbaston.<\/p>\n
That England managed a three-wicket win in Wales that put them an unassailable 2-0 up was largely down to star batsman Joe Root’s ODI best 166 not out.<\/p>\n
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– ‘Proper shots’ –<\/p>\n
“I don’t feel like we really deserved that win,” said Brook of Sunday’s success at Sophia Gardens.<\/p>\n
“Our fielding was a little bit sloppy.<\/p>\n
“But because we are so tight as a group, we’ve managed to scrape a victory there. Obviously, having Joe Root in your side is always a big help.”<\/p>\n
Smith, who replaced Phil Salt as opener, averaged 17.63 after his first dozen ODI innings.<\/p>\n
But on Tuesday the batting skill that has helped make him a Test regular was evident.<\/p>\n
“He’s gone out there and and played extremely well, but he’s not a slogger,” Brook said. “He’s playing proper shots, he’s putting their bad balls away and he’s putting them (the West Indies) under immense pressure.”<\/p>\n
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The West Indies recovered from 28-3 and 154-7 to finish on 251-9 after arriving late to the Oval because of heavy London traffic .<\/p>\n
Adil Rashid was the pick of England’s attack, with the veteran leg-spinner taking 3-40.<\/p>\n
“Rash has got so much skill,” said Brook of his Yorkshire team-mate.<\/p>\n
“He’s a very wily bowler. He’s he’s been around the block for a while, and he keeps on getting better and better.”<\/p>\n
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