'England is the way forward for me' - Brook to step back from franchise cricket
New England white-ball skipper Harry Brook recently withdrew from the Indian Premier League in a bid to manage his workload.
Harry Brook says he will "take a step back" from franchise cricket in order to focus on his duties as England's new white-ball captain.
The 26-year-old was named as his nation's one-day and T20 skipper on Monday as he replaced Jos Buttler, who stepped down following their disappointing Champions Trophy campaign.
England are set for a busy 2025 with a Test series against India in the summer followed by the Ashes later in the year.
They also play white-ball series against West Indies in June, then South Africa and Ireland in September, while travelling to New Zealand in November.
A white-ball tour of Sri Lanka follows the Ashes, before the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka the following February.
Brook pulled out of the Indian Premier League last month, and he says he will put his country before overseas franchise leagues in a bid to manage his workload.
"England is the way forward for me and franchise cricket can almost take a step back for a little while," he told BBC Sport.
"I enjoy playing cricket for England more than anything else, so to lose a little bit of money here and there - I'd take that any day to play for England.
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"I'd like to play every game, but if I require a week off and that's the best thing going forward for my game, then I'm sure I'll be allowed a week off."
Brook takes over the captaincy of an England side that put up disappointing defences of their T20 and 50-over world titles, while losing 10 of their 11 white-ball matches this year.
And the new skipper laid out his expectations of the side as they look to bounce back.
"I want us to go out there and be very competitive, very aggressive and be 100% committed to what we're trying to achieve," Brook said.
"I want players who naturally put the best bowlers under pressure from their best ball to their worst ball, to be able to manipulate the field at different stages of the game and be able to score big runs, especially in one-day cricket.
"As a bowler, I want them to work towards modes of dismissals, be able to get every batter out in the world, have a plan for each batter and then be able to have the skills to bowl to any field to any plan at any time in the game."