In the third Test of the Ashes series, Harry Brook made a vital 75 off 93 to help England chase a challenging 251 in the fourth innings against Australia. While the knock wasn’t at the same scale as his captain Ben Stokes’ 2019 Headingley heroics, it was yet another sign of what Brook is capable of.
He is the epitome of England’s ‘Bazball’ way of playing Test cricket, boasting the highest strike rate of 94.31 in the history of the red-ball format. Brook is only second to the towering Don Bradman in terms of batting average after 17 innings. He scores 64.25 runs every innings. While the sample size is relatively small as of now, Brook has so far been worth the hype that he’s a generational talent.
Brook Doesn’t Believe in Leaving The Ball. He Sees It and Hits It.
Still a freshman, Brook has stormed his way to the 1,000-run-mark in Test cricket in just 1,058 deliveries, the quickest the game has ever witnessed. The belief that a high-risk approach is more susceptible to failures in Test cricket is counter-intuitive in Brook’s case. The England batter is amongst the two players to score 1000 runs while attacking more than fifty per cent of their deliveries in Test matches. The other one is England opener, Ben Duckett.
Such are Brook’s batting exploits since his Test debut in September 2022 against South Africa, that his Yorkshire teammate, Jonny Bairstow, had to give up his number five position, where he was incredibly successful in 2022. After the appointment of coach Brendon McCullum in 2022, Bairstow was instrumental in ushering in a new era of aggressive Test match batting, termed “Bazball”, scoring 1061 runs from 10 matches at an average and a strike rate of 66.3 and 76, respectively. Brook replaced him when the latter got ruled out due to a limb injury in 2022.
Brook hasn’t looked back since then, smashing four centuries and five half centuries for a total of 1028 runs from 10 Tests, at the exciting strike rate mentioned earlier.
Adept At Dealing With Spin And Pace
Featuring in just his sixth Test against New Zealand in 2023, Brook played a blinder of an innings in Wellington, New Zealand. England were struggling, losing three wickets in their first seven overs. In came the 24-year-old Brook and made his intentions clear by hitting four fours in his first 11 deliveries. He didn’t care about the fact that the pitch was grassy and assisted swing-bowling, as he marauded his way to a stroke-filled 186 off just 176 balls. He hit a total of five sixes and 24 fours, acting as a catalyst in England’s fightback.
Brook averages over 50 against fast-bowling, and over 100 against spin.
David Lloyd, the former England captain and coach, has praised Brook’s ability to play spin and pace and has compared him to Kevin Pietersen.
"They will see he is ticking all the boxes. You look at temperament, character and appetite and his ability to play spin and pace. They are all first-class. Harry really does look like another Kevin Pietersen to me. KP changed the game and Brook has the potential to do the same," said Lloyd.
You Pitch It Up To Harry Brook, You Disappear
In the series against the Kiwis in 2023, Brook neutralised Black Caps’ enforcer Neil Wagner by hitting at everything in his range.
His chutzpah to pounce on any ball which is of full length, irrespective of the conditions, is a testament to his dominance in Test matches.
The fearless lofted drive he plays over mid-off, and mid-on, mostly for a maximum, is the hallmark of his supremacy over full-length deliveries.
The pugnacious batter averages an exact 200 while playing pitched-up deliveries. Yes it is still early days in the career of Harry Brook. And surely there will be challenges ahead. But for now, he has set the cricketing world alight with his bold approach.
