“It’s nice to have him in three of our teams: brilliant player, outstanding human being, and also real captaincy material,” Langer said. “That’s one of the facets of his game that we love, his leadership.”
Brook, England’s white-ball captain, said at the T20 World Cup that he was unlikely to continue as Sunrisers captain in the Hundred this year, having spent two seasons leading Northern Superchargers when Andrew Flintoff was head coach.
But Vettori said that he remains hopeful that Brook could yet lead his side, saying after Thursday’s auction: “I think he likes the team, so maybe we can twist his arm and get him there. We’ll just wait and see.”
Sunrisers play MI London on the opening day of the men’s Hundred on July 21, two days after England’s third ODI against India. The tournament’s final on August 16 takes place three days before the start of their first Test against Pakistan.
“We understand Harry’s commitments and how full on he is,” Vettori added. “He’ll come [into the Hundred] on the back of a Test series and a white-ball series as well. He’ll only be able to join up with us one or two days before the start of the [first] game.
“That’ll be a conversation between himself and myself around whether he thinks he wants to do it. But the likes of Mitch Marsh, Dan Lawrence, Zak Crawley have all got captaincy experience as well. So we can lean on those guys too.”
“There are a few leaders in the side already,” Hemang Badani, their head coach, said. “[Marcus] Stoinis is one, Stubbsy [Tristan Stubbs] is one. They’ve done well in recent times: Stoin for his side in the Big Bash, likewise Stubbs winning his first SA20 with SEC [Sunrisers Eastern Cape]. We do see some leaders in the side but we’ll have to wait.”
Kate Cross and Jess Jonassen will be candidates to captain Sunrisers Leeds, while Sophie Devine is the standout option in the Welsh Fire squad.
