'Best in the world' Brook keeping feet on ground
The Guardian|December 10, 2024
England batter is determined to stick with his aggressive approach even if it puts his sky-high statistics at risk
Ali Martin
'Best in the world' Brook keeping feet on ground

England got a bit of grief in India this year when Ben Duckett suggested their aggressive style may have influenced Yashasvi Jaiswal's hot streak. Harry Brook was wise enough not to go there again this week but there was still an element of game recognises game while taking in Adelaide's day-night Test from afar.

As they galloped to their three-day win in Wellington - and a series victory against New Zealand with one Test to play - a number of England's players spent their evenings watching Australia level the Border-Gavaskar series at 1-1. The Ashes are less than a year away and the two sides are inevitably tracking each other's form (even if the pink-ball nature of Australia's win in Adelaide makes their true line harder to gauge).

The moment that caught Brook's eye, though, was in fact a spot of Indian tamasha. "I don't know if you saw it," Brook said, during a chat about his approach out in the middle. "But Rishabh Pant running down the pitch first ball [and swatting Scott Boland over extra cover for four] - to have that sort of courage to get off the mark first ball is something that we've done exceptionally well over the last couple of years.

"We say it all the time. We are out there to score runs. We are not there to survive. Sometimes you have just got to go out of your comfort zone and have the courage to run down the track or whatever. If you look at the field and think there is a massive gap there, [you think] 'let's just try hit it there'. There is less risk of getting out."

This story is from the December 10, 2024 edition of The Guardian.

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This story is from the December 10, 2024 edition of The Guardian.

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