Whether the Australian bowling assault might or is probably not probably the most formidable in world cricket in the intervening time, it is evidently not a matter of concern for Harry Brook.
“I don’t know,” shrugged the rocket man of English cricket at Edgbaston on Wednesday when requested about whether or not Pat Cummins and co had been the very best he was but to face.
“I’m just looking to play the ball, I’m not really bothered who’s bowling at me. It’s the same old ball coming down.
“Obviously, they’re good … nevertheless it’s simply one other cricket ball coming at me.”
That’s Brook for you; make that a rocket man with feet firmly on the ground.
For while England may have gone wild about Harry, whose crisp, thrill-a-minute batting has swiftly elevated him into the cricketing stratosphere and made him the talk of the home Ashes build-up, there’s something still delightfully unspoilt about this down-to-earth son of Yorkshire.
Four centuries in his first six Tests – goodness, only Don Bradman and Sunil Gavaskar have ever done that – means it’s little wonder there’s so much expectation surrounding the 24-year-old before Friday’s opener.
Yet if he’s feeling any pressure, especially after murmurs about his ‘difficult’ first IPL season in India, you’d never know it.
Without sounding remotely gung-ho, the man who’s smashed his first 818 runs in Tests at effectively a run a ball just enthuses: “I’m trying ahead to difficult myself towards them and no matter plans they’ve towards me.”
Like a prospective duel with Australia’s premier spin maestro Nathan Lyon, 487 Test wickets and counting? How would he approach that challenge?
“What do you assume?” Brook grinned back. “If he bowls ball, then I’m going to respect it. Other than that, I’m going to attempt to take him on.
“He could get a lot of wickets, but hopefully we’re going to hit him for a lot of runs.”
What, by possibly attempting to clear defensive fields and possibly including swiftly to the 20 sixes he is already clouted in Tests?
“I didn’t say I’d try and hit him for six,” responded Brook.
“I’d like to think I’m a player who can find and hit different gaps. I try and play all around the wicket. I’ll see whatever field he has. I’m sure they’ll probably start with everybody up and we’ll go from there.”
As for the quicks, Brooks smiled: “They might have a little bit of extra pace, but if they bowl quicker it tends to go to the boundary quicker.”
His meteoric rise hasn’t come with out a few downers. Before his historic hat-trick of a whole lot in Pakistan and one other blistering 186 in New Zealand, he’d had some mis-steps on the climb, together with his newest now being an IPL season which featured one pretty hundred and much more failures.
Did he fear in regards to the run scarcity? “No – it’s a different format, different environment. This environment’s the best I’ve been in and I’m going to go out there and be fearless.
“I’ve at all times wished to play towards the very best gamers on this planet and see how good I actually am.”
The concern for Australia is that they might be just be about to find out.
HARRY BROOK’S AMAZING START TO TEST CRICKET
South Africa (The Oval, Sept 2022) 12
Pakistan (Rawalpindi, Dec 2022) 153 & 87
Pakistan (Multan, Dec 2022) 9 & 108
Pakistan (Karachi, Dec 2022) 111
New Zealand (Mount Maunganui, Feb 2023) 89 & 54
New Zealand (Wellington, Feb 2023) 186 & 0
Ireland (Lord’s, June 2023) 9no
Total: 7 Tests, 11 innings, 1no, 818 runs, HS 186, Av 81.80, Strike-rate 99.03
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
