Harry Brook is rocking the 100, but not in the England squad for the One Day World Cup. Photo: Getty Images/Stu Forster
Sometimes a player is just too good to be left out. Harry Brooke is one such cricketer and England's decision not to take him to the World Cup in October is already looking very suspicious.
Brook missed out on qualifying because Ben Stokes again exposed himself to cricket with 50 people. but only as a batsman. England looked at the schedule and decided they needed depth in bowling, which meant limiting batsmen. If Stokes could play as an all-rounder, Brook would have survived and the bowler would have been sidelined.
Having Stokes involved in the decision is an unfortunate coincidence for the qualifiers because Brook's exclusion from the 2023 World Championship seems like a chilling reminder that they didn't take Stokes to the 2015 tournament where they failed so badly. Besides, the real choice was not between the two. It was between Brook, Jason Roy and David Malan.
At least Stokes was out of shape in 2015, so there was an element of softening the dumb decision, but that's not the case with Brook, whose century at the 100 on Tuesday night couldn't have been a better moment. Brook's 41-ball 100 is the fastest in the 100 so far. He scored 11 fours and seven sixes. Now he has four T20s against New Zealand to prove his point once again and force the World Cup to be rethought.
Did the England team make the mistake of not selecting Brook?
England's squad for the World Cup is provisional and changes can be made until 28 September. By then England will have played 11 white ball matches against New Zealand and Ireland. Brook is not on the One Day International rosters, so he has these four T20s to send a reminder and put pressure on Malan, who is a substitute batsman on the team and essentially the only player he can force out. Jason Roy has simply overestimated his previous England performances.
The contrast with Malan at the moment could not be more striking. Brook is 24 years old and had a good time with Ash, but he didn't hit the 100 to finish it all off. He was instrumental in the victory over Headingley and although Test cricket is no longer a metric used in white ball play, he showed his penchant for stressful situations. Brook is a multi-format player with a 100 IPL and now a 100 in the 100.
Brook is on his way to a mind-boggling century of Northern Superchargers fighting the Welsh fire at Headingley. Photo: Getty Images/Ashley Allen 
Brooke with the Man of the Match award after 41 centuries of playing in the 100. Photo: Getty Images/Ashley Allen
He is an excellent spin player, as he proved in Pakistan last winter in both white and red ball cricket, and in shorter formats he can bat anywhere in the top six. He's the kind of player who can hit a double hundred or a whole century, placing in the top three in cricket with 50 points. Slow servings at the World Cup in India will suit his game, although he had a tough first IPL and by the time the next World Cup takes place in 2027, it's possible he could captain England.
When the World Cup starts, Malan will be 36 years old. He was dumped by his 100 team, the Trent Rockets. Roy, 33, has a mixed fitness track record and saved his ODI career last summer by beating the Netherlands to add hundreds in South Africa and Bangladesh. England don't want to lose the rapport between Bairstow and Roy and Malan's four hundred in his last 12 ODIs make him irrelevant.
But the question for England is who is in shape now? Who will win the World Cup in 2023? Eoin Morgan was known for his ruthless decision making. He dropped David Willey on the eve of the 2019 tournament for Jofra Archer. In the run-up to this event, Willie was much more involved with the ODI team than Malan was with this one. After the World Championship, Morgan turned down Liam Plunkett despite his important performance in the final. Loyalty disappeared when Morgan thought the player was missing the road.
Does Jos Battler have the same advantage? This set-up of the England team is supported by the players, which is good, because it usually pays off with scoring. Look at Zach Crowley and Barstow vs Australia. But that can also be a weakness, and Brook's refusal to compete in the World Cup was a call for loyalty; fair enough for the ODI series, but Battler will only have one chance at the 50-man World Championship. He needs 15 of the best players and Brook is now one of the best in the world, not to mention England.
It was difficult to choose a team for the World Cup because England boasts a huge amount of ball game talent. There are strong arguments in favor of all the chosen ones, but Brook is one of those players of the generation who appears so rarely. He's only played three ODIs, but that's because the system is working against him. In his case, it doesn't matter either. It would be a relentless call, inconsistent with the current arrangements of the England team, to change the squad for the World Cup now. But Brook has a chance against New Zealand starting next week in Durham to force them on. He's already given a two-fingered cue in The 100. You won't be surprised if another message is sent next week.
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