'He is one of the best players ever' - Brook on missing World Cup ticket after Stokes' return

As Ben Stokes' elusive retirement U-turn from ODIs put paid to the youngster's 2023 World Cup dreams, rising middle-order bat Harry Brook says he is "trying not to think" about his omission and keeping a pragmatic outlook about things. 

While the English cricket community celebrated the return of their 2019 Lord's hero, his comeback after a year-long shocking absence from the 50-overs cricket happened at the expense of Brook, who would've hoped to build on his rise and gains in the coming matches versus New Zealand and Ireland and book his ticket for the quadrennial event in India. 

The young cricketer would've been heartbroken at being left out of England's preliminary World Cup squad, but is hoping to "move on" from the disappointment as soon as possible and not allow the realities to derail his psyche and career progression. 

Brook would've known he might be the direct casualty of Stokes' anticipated return and believes a dearth of List A cricket in the recent months robbed him an opportunity to bolster his case for selection. 

Brooks opens up on World Cup absence for Stokes 

Speaking after blasting 44 off 24 balls in The Hundred clash between  Northern Superchargers and London Spirits on Friday (August 17), Brooks said he could've had a greater aim to book his place for the marquee India trip in October-November if the domestic and international schedule had allowed for it. 

A prominent feature in England's 'Bazball' Test match era, the 24-year-old right-hander has featured in just 3 ODIs and 18 List A encounters, being at the receiving end of a domestic and international calendar aligned towards three lions' Test and T20I ambitions over the past two years. 

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"Obviously it's disappointing but I can't do anything about it now," Brook was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. "You've just got to move on. I'm trying not to think about it anymore. I've not had much conversation with Matthew [Mott] or Jos [Buttler]."

"They said with Stokesy coming back I was probably going to miss out this time. He is one of the best players to ever play cricket, so I can't really complain, can I?"

"I feel like I'm playing well at the minute and feel I could potentially add value to the team. [But] there's always something more you could do," he added. 

"I haven't had much opportunity to play one-day cricket, whether that be for Yorkshire or England and although I've played a lot of T20 cricket, I don't know if I've done as well as I have in the past in the last six months, so that might have had an effect."