‘Funky’ Brook aiming to dazzle selectors
HARRY BROOK’S international debut came about in such unprepared circumstances that his grandmother Pauline — the only family member present in Barbados to witness it — had not realised it was happening.
Scanning the dugouts at the Kensington Oval, she could not distinguish the 23-year-old among England’s bib-wearing brigade. She was soon to discover it was because he wasn’t kitted out in fluorescent attire but on the field as a last-minute replacement for captain Eoin Morgan, who had failed a pre-toss fitness test.
‘My dad, sister and uncle didn’t come out until the following day and although she was there, she didn’t know I was playing,’ says Brook with a smile. ‘Then again, I only found out half an hour before the start, so I didn’t have time to message her.
‘She’s travelled around the world to watch me play, so I’m glad she was there. Hopefully, I’ll get a few more caps for her in the future.’
Brook, the latest Yorkshire batting talent, made an unremarkable 10 from 13 balls in a mid-series defeat by West Indies that January evening from an unfamiliar position of No7. An innings at odds with the 49-ball hundred he made for Lahore Qalandars the following month, the second fastest in Pakistan Super League history, and many others in the Vitality Blast and Hundred over recent times.
Not that his run scoring exploits have been limited to white-ball matches. Brook’s career-best 194 yesterday against Kent made him the first player past 500 runs in Division One this season.
And so, with a place at No 4 up for grabs — county colleague Dawid Malan is now viewed as too old at 34 for England’s red-ball reset, while Essex’s Dan Lawrence’s fitness is uncertain due to a hamstring tear — Brook, Roses rival Josh Bohannon and Nottinghamshire’s Joe Clarke are vying for the first Test squad of the summer against New Zealand on June 2.
Brook insists he is not looking any further than making scoring runs for Yorkshire but is clear about his career priorities.
‘I still think that Test cricket is the pinnacle and the best format of the game standard-wise,’ he tells The Mail on Sunday.
‘Having played in the County Championship for a few years now, the feeling of getting a win and scoring runs is so much more fulfilling. It feels like you’ve deserved it because you’ve worked hard over four days and Test cricket is called so because it is a test.’
In 2021, his 797 runs at 37.95 represented his best season to date and with 50 first-class matches, the former England Under-19 captain’s work with Martin Speight, his coach at Sedbergh School, is coming to fruition.
Last year, batting alongside Joe Root taught him about pacing innings, and Brook says: ‘I’ve always looked at the best players in the world and tried to take bits from their game. I’ve got a similar trigger and set up to Gary Ballance — I set myself into a position from which I can play any shot — and I idolised AB de Villiers when I was younger, especially in T20 cricket, so I try to get funky with some of the stuff I do, like hitting the ball in weird areas and looking to use the full 360 degrees of the ground.’
So, has he added anything since being called to the Caribbean as a standby player at the turn of the year?
‘When you get to a certain level it’s mental rather than technical stuff. My reading of situations is better,’ he says.
‘I enjoyed every minute of it and I do think I’ve come back from last winter a better player.’