Brendon McCullum called Harry Brook "one of the best tactical captains I've ever come across" after England ended a tough ODI tri-series with a consolation win over Sri Lanka in Lahore. England lost their first three matches after a botched run chase against Pakistan was followed by failing to defend a total of 429 against Sri Lanka and then suffering another defeat to Pakistan as the hosts reached a target of 242 despite having been 154-9. Brook's side looked in danger of a fourth loss from four when Pavan Rathnayake scored his second hundred against England in as many matches on Thursday but they eventually bowled Sri Lanka out for 331 as their opponents pursued a target of 387.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Speaking to Sky Sports Cricket, head coach McCullum said of Brook: "He's one of the best tactical captains I've ever come across. "He's got such an astute brain. He wears his intelligence lightly externally but he's a very switched on man and cricketer.
"He has the respect of the entire dressing room. He leads and they follow him. He is interactive with his leadership.
It's not just him on his own, he calls on other people. "He will have learned a lot from getting thrust into a situation like this where the game is travelling at breakneck speed, and you're having to make decisions which can win or lose a game. "Providing you have the ability to take stock post-game, assess the situation and come up with new ideas [you can improve].
"We saw that [against Sri Lanka]. We were probably behind the game when they were five down but Brooky was able to slow it down, make some plays and we were able to get the wickets we needed. "He would have grown enormously.
I can't talk highly enough of his captaincy, not just his tactics but also his leadership." Left-arm spinner Liam Dawson picked up the key wicket of Rathnayake, caught sweeping to short fine leg, in the 45th over with Sri Lanka needing 58 runs from 35 balls. The 36-year-old bagged figures of 4-49 on the day and claimed seven wickets in three games at an average of 21.42 in the competition after replacing leg-spinner Adil Rashid following England's opening defeat to Pakistan in Rawalpindi. Rashid, 38, is England's second-highest ODI wicket-taker of all time, behind only James Anderson, and McCullum suggested the Yorkshireman dropping out of the side in the tri-series was solely down to conditions.
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