MATCH STORY
Follow UsHarry Brook amassed a free-flowing hundred during the ongoing second Test against West Indies at Trent Bridge, continuing the fantastic start to his Test career. This was Brook’s fifth Test hundred in only 23 innings, but his first in England.
It wasn’t only the runs but the ease with which Brook mustered this hundred. He walked in at a tricky period in England’s second innings on Day 3.
Having conceded a 41-run lead, the Three Lions had just lost both Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett in the space of three overs after a 119-run stand for the second wicket. They were effectively 99/3 with Alzarri Joseph moving the ball under heavy cloud cover.
Batting alongside his senior Yorkshireman Joe Root, Brook batted till stumps, adding 108 runs for the fourth wicket. While Root batted with a measured approach, Brook batted freely, contributing 71 runs to the partnership at stumps, batting at a strike rate of 91.
The duo swelled their partnership to 189 on Day 4 before Brook nicked one behind to Joshua Da Silva, at 109 off 132 balls. However, he had done his job, taking England’s lead to 288 at that point.
Brook scored heavily in the third-man region, scoring 25% of his run in that arc. The steer, late cut, square drive and square cut produced 35.7% of his runs.
Much like Kavem Hodge on Day 2, Brook was also brilliant on the back foot. However, he also scored plenty on the front foot — 45 off 60 balls if you include the one boundary while charging down the ground.
West Indies didn’t stay with the short ball tactic against Brook given his false shot percentage was under 10% whenever the length was pulled back.
On Day 3, Jayden Seales was seen miffed with Brook’s failed attempt to steer the ball late and had a word with the batter before walking off to his fielding position, still muttering a few words under his breath. On Day 4, he was the happiest man when he got Brook to edge one to the wicketkeeper courtesy of a lazy shot outside the off stump.
But Brook had done his job by then.
The 25-year-old headed into the series without a lot of red-ball cricket behind him. The right-hander pulled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the aftermath of grandmother’s demise. He later featured in England’s 2024 T20 World Cup campaign but had played only seven first-class innings in the ongoing County Championship.
He looked in fine touch though, scoring 388 runs, including two hundreds, at an average of 77.6.
Brook has replaced another Yorkshireman Jonny Bairstow at number five in this series. Bairstow had a poor outing in the five Tests in India earlier this year, the series that Brook missed due to personal reasons. Brook’s approach was similar to that of Bairstow in terms of taking the attack onto the opposition.
In fact, among the eight England batters to score over 500 Test runs since Brendon McCullum has become their coach, Brook’s strike rate of 90.7 is the highest. He also has the highest average in this time period — 62.6.
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