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England captain Harry Brook feels that his side is fit enough to continue playing matches for the time being amid an incredibly tiring schedule. This came after the Three Lions' 5-run defeat against South Africa in the second ODI which saw them lose the three-match series.
The England team have been on quite a tight schedule for the last few months as they were first involved in a five-match Test series against India before participating in The Hundred and now they are currently playing a white-ball series against South Africa where the T20Is are yet to come.
Following their narrow defeat to the Proteas on Thursday, Brook remarked that they want to play their strongest side for every white-ball assignment as they got two World Cups coming up.
"I'm not selecting the Ashes side, that's up to Stokesy (Ben Stokes) and Baz (Brendon McCullum). We want to try and play our strongest side in every white-ball game. We've World Cups coming up -- the T20 World Cup this winter and the one-day World Cup the following winter," Brook said after the match.
"It's easy to say that (we're tired), but in my eyes that's just an excuse. We're good enough and fit enough to be able to keep playing for the time being," he added.
England batters' big improvement
On the other hand, Brook believes that England improved their batting performance quite a bit in the second ODI despite the defeat. Notably, the Three Lions managed to put up 325 runs on the board in the second match while they were only abole to score 131 runs in the series opener. Brook also admitted his mistake of giving Will Jacks too many overs despite the spinner being too expensive. Both Jacks and Jacob Bethell ended up bowling five overs each, but gave away a massive 112 runs combined in their respective spells.
"We felt they (South Africa) were 10 or 15 above par, so it was a very good effort for us to get within one blow of their score," Brook stated.
"I probably got it wrong on one occasion when I bowled Jacksy from the Pavilion End to the right-handers hitting it down the hill. It was a gamble, and the gamble didn't pay off," he further added.
Meanwhile, the third and final match of the one-day series between England and South Africa will be played on September 7 and will be held at the Utilita Bowl in Southampton.
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