Harry Brook will play at his home ground of Headingley in England's first Test against Pakistan, but the 27-year-old has been told that the Test captaincy vacancy came "too soon" for him. England have turned back to Joe Root as the successor to Ben Stokes, with Rob Key hinting that greater maturity was needed from Brook.
A year of inconsistency
Brook's most recent act in the whites of England was to go down swinging against New Zealand, scoring 21 off nine balls, which triggered criticism about his approach. He was following team orders, but the dismissal was seen as another example of "Harry-kiri."
Clearly driving on the up in unfamiliar Perth was not smart from Brook, likewise trying to larrup Mitchell Starc under lights in his first pink-ball Test. Overall his Ashes was disappointing, and a year has passed since his last Test century. Wicketkeepers Alex Carey and Tom Blundell standing up to the quicks has caused him issues.
Remarkable numbers
Despite the criticism, Brook has already put up the kind of numbers that mark him out as a truly remarkable talent. After 38 Tests he averages 53, has scored 10 centuries (including a triple in Multan), and he sits second in the Test batting rankings behind Travis Head.
According to CricViz, Brook has achieved this by trying to smack 44% of deliveries to or over the boundary – a figure only Head can match. More broadly, the 27-year-old looks to score off 65% of balls he faces, and defend or leave 35%. The average split for top-seven batters since his debut in 2022 has been 52/48.
Learning to earn the right
Brook is lethal on flat pitches – Pakistan know better than anyone, victims of four Brook centuries on home soil, including that career-best 317. But like Head, he can come into his own when the ball is doing plenty for the bowlers. His century in Wellington in late 2024 is a prime example, compiled from just 91 balls, and on an opening day when 15 wickets tumbled.
Stokes even took Brook aside at the end of that Ashes series and told him he should be averaging "65, even 70" in Test cricket. The diagnosis was that Brook, like a lot of modern players, has a 360-degree armoury of shots but is still learning when and where to deploy them. For AB de Villiers, whose remarkable hand-eye ability was comparable to Brook, it similarly comes down to risk assessment. "Definitely don't lose the aggressive nature of your batting or the creative side," De Villiers told For The Love of Cricket. "Just earn the right."
Brook acknowledges this and gets as frustrated as the next person at some of his dismissals. But his stated aim is still to be a matchwinner for England first and foremost. "I have the ability to hit it everywhere, I just have to figure it out quicker in games," he said. As much as the excesses of Bazball squandered a golden chance in Australia, overall it allowed Brook to discover the limits of what is possible. Avoid an over-correction and this tricky last year could yet be the making of him.
