London : Former England opener Geoffrey Boycott believes Harry Brook has it in him to be one of the ‘great middle-order players of this generation’. In the recent 2-2 drawn series against India, Brook finished with 481 runs at an average of 53.44.
His knock of 111 runs off 98 balls at The Oval almost took England home in a thrilling Test match which India won by six runs. “I have believed for a long time that Harry Brook could be one of the great middle-order players of this generation.”
“Players like him do not come along too often, and he could end up in the same bracket as Wally Hammond and Denis Compton, who are regarded by everybody who saw them as among England’s greatest. Harry has that special quality of somehow making batting look easy. Let me tell you, it is not. He is tall and that gives him long levers, so when he hits the ball he has a lot of power and takes the game away from bowlers without slogging.
“In this era, compared with everyone else around, he is above them all. I defy anybody to tell me another No 5 in world cricket, or middle-order batsman, who has his talent, his ability to take the game by the scruff of the neck and have bowlers running in, not knowing what to bowl,” wrote Boycott in his column for The Telegraph on Wednesday.
Adding more heft to Brook’s run-scoring ways was India head coach Gautam Gambhir deciding to name him as England’s Player of the Series. Brook now has ten Test centuries including one triple hundred, while amassing 2820 runs in 30 Tests.
“Brook has such a wide range of strokes that when he gets going, he dominates bowlers, scoring in all areas. They are not sure where to bowl at him and that is a wonderful situation to be in as a batsman. I have always believed that every team needs one genuine, unpredictable batsman who can do extraordinary things. Yes, they play daft shots occasionally, but we have to accept that because what you get in return is such a huge bonus. When it is their day they are match-winners,” added Boycott.
He signed off by hoping Brook is more careful about his batting when the Ashes arrives in Australia. “I just hope Harry is going to be intelligent enough not to change his game, but just assess the situation and be a bit more careful. That is all he has to do. There will be times when Australia are bowling well and trying to butcher them will not be the smartest thing to do.
“He has a good defence on both the front and back foot so it is not as though he cannot stay in. He can let the moment pass when the bowlers are on top. It’s like playing chess. There are times when you have to sit in and wait for your moment, then explode. If he comes running down the pitch at people like Hazlewood and Cummins then he will be asking for trouble but if he assesses the situation, he can be successful in Australia.”
