Harry Brook revealed what fired up England’s players on Day 5 of the Lord’s Test against India.There were more than a few talking points during England’s 22-run win over India at Lord’s, but Brook said the “too nice” comment by head coach Brendon McCullum gave Ben Stokes and co. the extra motivation they needed.
“He actually said a few days before that we are too nice sometimes,” Brook told BBC Sport.“I brought it up the night before the last day: ‘Baz said the other day we’re too nice. I think tomorrow is the perfect opportunity to really get stuck into them.’“It came at the perfect time. The opportunity that arose for us to not be the nice guys was because of what they did the night before.“We watched two of our guys out there on their own, going back at the Indians after they were going at them. We just thought, ‘we’re not standing for that.’“We had a conversation and said, ‘it’s time to not be those nice guys that we have been before.’”Brook, who made his Test debut under McCullum and has now been appointed England’s white-ball captain, explained why England are trying to shed the “nice guys” tag.
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“At Lord’s, we had a conversation and thought it was the perfect opportunity to stop being the nice guys we’ve been for the past three years,” he said.“To go out there and put them under more pressure than what they’ve probably faced before.“I don’t think it’s against the spirit of cricket. We weren’t being personal, we weren’t being nasty—we were just putting them under more pressure.“We weren’t going out there effing and jeffing at them or being nasty people. We were just going about it in the right manner.”
