Yorkshire batsman combined abundant shot-making with newly developed restraint to deliver hugely promising display
Perhaps it was not how he envisaged the moment. But with a thick inside edge off Alzarri Joseph and a scampered single, Harry Brook brought up a significant landmark in his career. After four Test centuries overseas, Brook had got his first at home.
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 21, 2024'A special innings, by a special player!' 🌟
Harry Brook has his first home Test century, and the fifth of his career, in just 118 balls 🔥 pic.twitter.com/LPPGp6O2RU
While Brook has performed solidly enough in his previous eight home Tests, there was a curious chasm in his record. Until this match, his average of 39.5 in England was 49 runs less than his stunning 88.6 abroad.
The law of small numbers holds that the smaller the sample size, the likelier it is to throw up statistical oddities that are really rooted in randomness. This is surely the greatest reason for the discrepancy in Brook’s Test record: he has played just five Tests away. All five came in 2022/23, when he thrived in benign batting conditions in New Zealand and, especially, Pakistan. Five of his nine home Tests were against Australia’s formidable attack last summer when he hit three consecutive half-centuries.
But the difference between Brook’s home and away record also hints at aspects of his game. He is at his best plundering runs on flat pitches, and is a wonderful player of spin, using his fast hands and range of shots.
Lateral movement has been a greater challenge. Brook’s first-class average for Yorkshire – 39.1 – gives little indication of the depth of his talent. Promoted to three during last year’s Ashes, Brook batted only one innings there before shunting back down to his preferred number five. Perversely, English conditions are a less-good fit for Brook than those in New Zealand and Pakistan.
When he walked out on the third evening at Trent Bridge, Brook had to confront conditions that have seldom witnessed his best. Benefiting from a change of ball and cloud cover, West Indies had found appreciable movement. With England leading by 99 and seven second innings wickets remaining, the Test was finely poised.
Brook initially met a classically contrasting double threat. While Alzarri Joseph went short, Jayden Seales pitched the ball up, generating outswing.
In his jittery early moments, Brook could have been dismissed by either. Confronted by Joseph’s barrage, Brook’s response looked premeditated and uncertain: he backed away and tried to upper-cut the ball, top-edging a delivery over gully. Defending against Seales, Brook only narrowly avoided edging behind.
Brook is a batsman of such abundant shots that, on occasion, his challenge can be how he uses them. In previous Tests in England, Brook’s zest has led to self-inflicted dismissals – twice at Edgbaston against Australia last year, when he was batting breezily. In the first innings at Trent Bridge, Brook cruised to 36 before unfurling a paddle scoop against Kevin Sinclair, toe-ending the ball to short leg.
In the second innings, the breeziness that is a hallmark of Brook’s batting remained: he still scored at a strike rate of 82. But such style was accompanied by more ruthlessness.
When he fell to a bouncer in the first Test at Lord’s, it was the fifth time that Brook had succumbed to a short ball in 13 Tests. This record is far from proof of vulnerability to short bowling: while his aggression can bring trouble, it can also lead to a flurry of boundaries. Brook knows that teams are becoming more minded to bounce him.
In the indoor school at Trent Bridge two days before the second Test, Brook had an intensive session with Marcus Trescothick, England’s batting coach; the two worked extensively on facing deliveries rearing up at Brook’s throat and head.
As Brook’s second innings at Trent Bridge progressed, he gave signs of becoming more comfortable against bouncers; when West Indies returned to the short ball ploy late on the third evening, he pulled Joseph dismissively through midwicket and then glided consecutive deliveries from Seales through gully for four. Yet Brook will be primed for far more bouncers on faster pitches, including in Australia in 16 months.
Perhaps most encouraging for England was Brook finding a less frenetic tempo, recognising when the situation demanded that he rein himself in. On the fourth morning, he mustered just three singles in a spell of 11 balls from Seales and Shamar Joseph.
He had no need for premeditation to break the relative slumber, waiting for an overpitched ball that he drove down the ground for four. It was a shot that any of the past members of the Yorkshire school of batting – Herbert Sutcliffe, Len Hutton, Sir Geoffrey Boycott or even his partner Joe Root – would have been proud to call their own.
For all the scope of Brook’s batsmanship, here was a reminder that he does not need to choose between a very modern repertoire and more traditional Test match virtues: he can combine both. The only shame was that his grandmother Pauline, who had done so much to shape his journey but passed away during England’s tour of India, could not witness it.
Brook’s first Test hundred in England was not just a critical innings in an oscillating match. It also highlighted the continued development of his game: even after the extraordinary start to his career, Brook is still expanding the contours of his batting.
Related Topics
- Harry Brook,
- England Cricket Team,
- Trent Bridge Ground,
- West Indies Cricket Team
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