Harry Brook: Emerging talent in English cricket

A few years back, England were a quality Test side but were not so good in limited-overs. Until 2019, England were yet to win an ODI World Cup and had won only one World T20I Championship. The lack of attacking intent from their batters was considered to be the reason behind their failure. 

Brook has a batting style more suited to the white-ball cricket but he has the technique and capability to succeed in red-ball cricket as well. He has played one T20I against West Indies in January and managed to score 10 runs. Brook’s fine stroke-making was witnessed by the world in his Under-19 days. While captaining the England U-19 team in the 2018 World Cup, he scored 239 runs at an average of 119.50 with a century and two half-centuries. His exploits in junior cricket helped him get a contract to play for Yorkshire. His first remarkable knock came in the same year at Chelmsford when he helped his side recover from being bowled out on a total of 50 to defeat Essex. He scored 124 runs in the game stitching a crucial partnership with Cheteshwar Pujara and Joe Root. His zeal to stay at the crease for longer periods was evident from his words after the knock. 

He has 2940 runs from 54 first-class matches at an average of 35.85 including seven centuries and 16 fifties. Brook has been improving his performance since last season in County as he had scored 797 runs at 37.95 last season. This time he has scored 840 runs from just six matches with three centuries and five fifties. 

Brook’s style suits more to the limited-overs format as he can also bat in the middle order and can play as a finisher as well. He has 343 runs from 15 List A matches at an average of 31.18 and has amassed 1714 runs from 65 T20s with an average of 36.46 and a strike rate of 148.52. He had a pretty impressive record in the last season of the Vitality Blast scoring 486 runs at a superb average of 69.4 and a strike rate of about 150. Brook’s ability to play his shots straight down the ground helps him score with consistency. Innovation is yet another forte he possesses and he uses it often at the back end of the innings. Brook has displayed his ability to play scoops to yorkers or play reverse sweeps to spinners to garner a lot of runs. 

Brook has enormous talent and England’s current skipper Ben Stokes echoed the same sentiment when the batter scored a fifty in one of ‘The Hundred’ matches. 

"He just takes the game on from ball one. He is not scared of any situation, he is not frightened of any bowler and he just sticks to what works for him. That is exactly what we try and create in the England team so I don't think it will be too long before we see him wearing the Three Lions,” Stokes had backed him for the national call-up.