Harry Brook insists England are ready to ‘train hard and play hard’ in Australia

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Harry Brook says there will be no calls to question England’s dedication on their return to Australia as he insisted his side are ready to “train hard and play hard”.

This month’s white-ball tour comes almost exactly a year since the start of the 2025‑26 Ashes campaign Down Under, a trip that saw Ben Stokes’ Test team dogged by claims of insufficient preparation and overindulgence off the field.

A boozy mid-series visit to the beach resort of Noosa immediately went down in infamy, after which an injury-hit Australia sealed a 4‑1 win, but the mood music feels significantly different 12 months on.

England have been in Perth for five days already, taking in a group run around the city as well as netting, and face a strong Western Australia side at the WACA by way of a rigorous warm-up for the ODI series.

Brook admits that fixture is “miles away” from the gentle internal match against the England Lions which saw England tune up for their Ashes opener on a slow, low club ground, and was at pains to talk up the team’s more diligent approach.

“Obviously it would have been nice to win the Ashes, as always, but this is a different challenge,” he said.

“It’s a completely different format, a different group of players – bar a few – and a different squad of players we’re playing against. We want to be one of the strongest and fittest sides in the world and to do that we can prepare slightly better and get in a gym a little bit more, do more runs and just work generally a lot better on our fitness.”

England’s energy levels will be challenged over a compact schedule that sees three ODIs and five T20s across eight cities in 20 days but Brook’s message was clear.

“At the end of the day, we’ve got to knuckle down to play our best cricket,” he added.

“It should always be there as professional athletes, I believe, that’s a non-negotiable. We’re here to train hard and play hard.”

Adil Rashid, the country’s premier white-ball spinner for more than a decade, will be hoping for a return to prominence after was shunted behind Liam Dawson and into a peripheral role during the recent tri-series in Pakistan.

“He’s alright, he’s been training the last few days and bowling nicely,” Brook offered.

“The decisions not to play him have been typically conditions based. It felt like left-arm was more suitable to the conditions in Pakistan. He’s raring to go.”