By almost any measure, England’s new star batter is in the process of breaking the mould
Vithushan Ehantharajah23-Feb-2023Ben Stokes had only just taken the Test sixes record when he suggested to previous holder Brendon McCullum that Harry Brook would take it off him soon enough. There was a whiff of jealousy in Joe Root’s admiration of the “extraordinary” way Brook was “almost bullying Test attacks”. In the space of 24 hours in Mount Maunganui, two modern-day Test greats were fawning over a youngling destined for their stock and status.Earlier this winter, seemingly a lifetime ago in the Pakistan T20I series in September and October, Mark Wood said he saw a bit of AB de Villiers in Brook. Go back further, to a transformational 2022 Test summer, and somehow Stokes was managing to big Brook up when actively choosing not to select him. He netted so well that he almost broke the captain’s vow to trust a batting line up that had won five out of six Tests.English cricket has never been comfortable with hype. And we’re not talking about the kind that Stokes and Root encountered at the beginning of their careers, micro-doses of praise as they found their feet among vaunted team-mates. This has been real, high-grade, NBA hype, like you get when a newbie becomes the fulcrum for a franchise in their rookie year. Other nations would trade their mothers to draft him.The “this kid, geez” sigh that comes with every shot Brook makes. The quiet disbelief that comes through watching someone so early in their journey look so comfortable. The reaction he evokes in the stands and on the grass banks: keeping their attention, sending them wild while remaining calm, like a DJ transitioning to a banger, and then the palpable dismay when he eventually goes. Even the similarities to Kevin Pietersen have been so prominent that you wonder what the man himself thinks of this. Pietersen was a unique brilliance. And yet this kid struts, picks lengths and hits bombs with ease that no-one one has any qualms making that comparison. No-one has dared make it before, but it seems fair game right now because Brook is worthy.He is already the kind of player that makes a Test match better with his presence. Even just typing that sentence about someone five matches into their career, who only turned 24 on Wednesday feels reckless. Which is exactly the kind of hype we’re talking about.Harry Brook drives through the covers during England’s warm-up match•Getty ImagesExcept this hype has undergone metamorphosis in the last couple of months. It’s well beyond the stage of being this nebulous concept, and now feels as though we’re contravening some duty-of-care protocol to promise so much on his behalf. Brook is already delivering more than anticipated.”I think he will go on to be a global superstar,” Stokes said after the victory at Mount Maunganui, in which Brook’s 89 and 54 were instrumental to England’s batting tempo, and earned him a third consecutive player-of-the-match award. The England captain is usually the one asking the media to keep the pressure off. Evidently, he is of a mind that this is all simply fact at this point.”You generally see if a player has got what it takes, but you never know if they’re going to be successful,” Root said. “It’s then when you throw them into the unknown – can they handle the pressure and all the external stuff? It’s been such a joy to see him come in and play how he plays.”That’s now six scores of fifty or more in Brook’s first eight innings: a grand total of 623 runs at an average of 77.87. Only five players have more runs from as many knocks, which is remarkable in its own right, and all the more so considering the nature of Brook’s play ultimately comes with a compromise: that he may leave runs out in the middle by taking more risks for the good of the team.That he already has three centuries, brought up in six innings with only one man (Mohammad Azharuddin) reaching that tally in fewer, shows he is striking an incredible balance. But it’s worth noting it is a balance never been seen before.!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var t=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var a in e.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r=0;r<t.length;r++){if(t[r].contentWindow===e.source)t[r].style.height=e.data["datawrapper-height"][a]+"px"}}}))}();
He has faced just 643 deliveries for his 623, giving him a strike rate of 96.9 which puts him comfortably in the far corner of a graph as an exceptional outlier, when considering statistics after just five Tests. Only Adam Gilchrist (440 struck at 81.8) and David Warner (383 at 85.5) come close to having the same impact.None of this a coincidence, by the way, even with the mitigation of weaker, transitional attacks. In a regime of optional training sessions, Brook has been a regular. In Pakistan, with little else to do, he was often in the gym, working diligently on a strength programme that has been tailored to help him fill out.There have been other examples of his quest for self-improvement this winter. During the T20 World Cup, he would greet batting consultant Mike Hussey at the start of every session with a query about what Hussey wanted him to work on. The logic in Brook’s mind was the legendary Australian knew far more about the craft than he did. “What else can I add to my game?” was the general theme of their sessions.Related
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Out in Pakistan, after playing spinner Abrar Ahmed poorly from the crease in the first innings at Multan, he consulted Martin Speight, his old cricket coach at Sedbergh who is now a mentor. After working out what went wrong (pretty quickly), Brook scored 108 in the second innings.Interestingly, it seems even out in the middle he is constantly assessing, tearing down and enhancing his game. Often to the bemusement of his partner at the other end.”You should see the conversations he has out in the middle,” Root said. “He sprays himself … not in a way that gets him down, more getting it out of his system before facing the next ball.”Root regards this as a good sign. One of “internal confidence” rather than self-flagellation of an over-burdened soul. “It’s a major factor why he’ll be successful for a long period of time.”Often when a player makes this kind of spectacular entrance, you’re anticipating the stumble. The moment when, say, Australia’s pace attack really goes to town on him with short stuff. That is admittedly an area Brook could improve on, but only relative to how good the rest of his game is. No one is perfect, just as only about three people in the world actually play the short ball well.There is a regression to come, to a norm specific to Brook that will still end up being greater than most. But with every step forward, that regression seems further and further away. Beyond the distractions of mind and technique that may come with ever-increasing short-form options, there’s a simplicity to Brook, in focus and approach, that gives you a sense he’ll be far durable than most.Perhaps that sounds a little wishful. Either way, it is hard not to escape the fact cricket, not just English cricket, has one hell of a talent to enjoy for a long time.
