Harry Brook quietly makes his case as England brace for World Cup buyer's remorse

During the five-hour drive up to the Seat Unique Riverside stadium from London today, Google suggested an "alternative route" that was 27 minutes slower. That is not an alternative route, that is the wrong way.

The same sentiment could be expressed about England's World Cup squad selection, with the omission of Harry Brook, left out in favour of Dawid Malan, Liam Livingstone and Jason Roy, an example of brains whirring and coming to a conclusion that, on the one hand, does still get you to Ahmedabad, but on the other takes you via Melbourne to get there. Surely there's a better way.

So much was proved today, as Brook furthered his case for World Cup inclusion with a flawless 43 off 27 balls to ice a middling chase against New Zealand, as England cruised to a seven-wicket win with six overs to spare.

"He's been unbelievable," England seamer Brydon Carse said of his Northern Superchargers' team-mate's progress over the last year-and-a-half. "I've been fortunate enough to spend quite a lot of time with Harry and to see him go about his business over the last 18 months has been a joy to watch

"He's such a laid-back character, he loves batting obviously, but away from cricket he's a laid-back character who enjoys spending time with his family.

"I'm glad I haven't had to play against him, he just seems to be hitting it all around the ground and just the tempo he's playing at, it's great for him and for English cricket."

This innings was Brook's second reminder in as many matches of his standing as the star of English cricket, today and tomorrow, having initially responded to the squad announcement with a remarkable 41-ball century in the the Hundred, an innings which prompted Jos Buttler to clarify that the door wasn't entirely shut on Brook's World Cup campaign: "There's still a long time before everyone is meant to get on the plane, so we'll wait and see what happens."

Buttler, in this instance, was playing the role of Kevin McAllister's Mum in Home Alone , and bolting upright as he realises he's left Harry at home for the World Cup.

The upshot is that Wednesday's match against New Zealand was the first of four T20s, followed by four ODIs, in which Brook will test out the depths of England's buyer's remorse, while Malan and Livingstone fight to avoid becoming the David Willey of 2023. Roy, rested for this series, can expect to return to the ODI set-up next week under increased pressure, as not only did Brook shine, but Malan and Livingstone equally rose to the occasion. Malan made 54 off 42 balls to break the back of England's chase, while Livingstone bowled beautifully to record figures of 1 for 25 off four before finishing the chase off with a quickfire 10 off four balls.

The reasoning behind their respective selections is that Malan, as well as being a relentless white-ball run-machine in recent years, provides a left-handed option that can target the opponent's left-arm spinners and right-arm wrist spinners. In an otherwise disjointed innings, Malan succeeded on this front, taking the New Zealand spin pair of Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi for 32 runs off 16 deliveries. On a macro level, this was vintage T20 Malan. A slow start (4 off 10 balls), followed by relentless aggression when faced with his match-up to take him to yet another international half-century, off 40 balls all told. In the longer format, that latter trait is more valuable than the former is damaging, and Malan will have done his chances no harm this evening.

Similarly, Livingstone played his role with the ball to perfection, bowling with genuine skill to pick off the key wicket of Daryl Mitchell, while his figures would have been even more impressive had his final ball not been launched for six by Adam Milne. Livingstone was even preferred to Adil Rashid to bowl a fourth over, with England's premier legspinner sending down just the three run-a-ball overs on this occasion.

The selection of Livingstone rests largely on the variety he brings with the ball. He's capable of bowling both offbreaks and legbreaks, and data from CricViz shows that in T20Is, his economy-rate bowling offies is 6.95 with an average of 34.00, compared to 8.33 and 25.34 when bowling leggies. Livingstone is a more-than-capable bowler, but with just two scores of above fifty in an England shirt in 35 innings, he will be under pressure to make a telling score before the squad is finalised in a month's time. Will England prefer a Jack of all trades in Livingstone, or a master of one in Brook? His towering six to wrap up victory was a timely reminder of his explosive power with the bat.

And where exactly was Brook in all of this? Well, he was at the other end being Harry Brook, cruising along at a strike-rate of 159 without ever looking in a rush to finish the job.

Two fours and three sixes, each as enormous as the other but in three completely separate directions, further illustrated why all of Michael Atherton, Jofra Archer and Kevin Pietersen - arguably the father, son and holy ghost of English cricket - have each individually expressed their shock at his absence. Buttler himself has said that Brook has nothing to prove, but Brook did it anyway. Someone is going to be the victim of the cruellest omission. Brook is doing his damnedest already to make sure it isn't him.