A Test summer that started with a bang ended with a whimper for Harry Brook.
There is no question that Brook has the gifts to become a great Test batsman. An average of 53.7 across his first two years makes that clear. As does the three-year contract England gave him a year ago, and his position in the top five of the ICC’s Test batting rankings.
At Trent Bridge in July, when he scored his first home Test century (he has four abroad), he looked imperious, out-batting even his fellow centurion Joe Root. It seemed unthinkable, at that stage, that Brook’s summer would end with an average of 37.7. Solid, but unspectacular, and undoubtedly low for a player of his gifts against attacks of West Indies and Sri Lanka’s quality, in home conditions. Four of his eight innings ended with scores in the thirties.
None of those scores in the thirties came at the Kia Oval where, for the first time he failed to reach 30 in either innings of a Test when batting twice. That stat reveals how well he has done so far in Test cricket, and especially the ease with which he has got himself set – in contrast to Ollie Pope – in innings so far, but also the little lull he has experienced here. He made a wild, impatient 19 in the first innings, then fell for three in the second.
There has, about England, been a general air of over-aggressive complacency in their final Test of the summer. Ollie Pope’s first innings fields cared not for run-saving, while his insistence on staying on the field when unable to bowl pace on the second afternoon gifted Sri Lanka runs while rarely threatening to take wickets. The first 11 wickets England lost in the match were all to catches, every one of them to attacking shots.
Every now and then – think the one-run defeat in Wellington, the Ashes Test at Edgbaston, Rajkot in February – this England team gets a little drunk on its own supply. There are worse moments for it to happen than this – when the series is won and their World Test Championship hopes are done – but it is time they learnt from it.
Brook’s batting in the first innings was an emblem of this. Just as he was at Lord’s, he was badly dropped early on in the deep. He quickly became frustrated by Sri Lanka’s insistence on bowling a fifth or sixth stump line, moving his guard across to outside off stump to go searching for the ball, before drilling to extra cover, where a sharp catch was taken.
Ricky Ponting, the great Australian batsman, had predicted the dismissal on commentary and other teams, not least India and Australia, who England play next year in mouth-watering contests, will have taken note. Brook was simply advertising how to bowl to him. Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka’s head coach and no stranger to dashing strokeplay himself, felt his team had succeeded in “frustrating” Brook.
Brook’s fellow Yorkshireman was frustrated, too. “Just be careful, Harry Brook,” said Vaughan on Test Match Special. “He is a brilliant player. He is as good as I have seen. I am going towards Kevin Pietersen-style. He is an incredible player. But don’t take the mick out of the game. Be very careful”. Vaughan was encouraging Brook to take a breath, and play himself in.
In his second innings, Brook was less culpable, falling in the middle of a fine spell from Vishwa Fernando. He was given sight of Fernando’s plan – full and straight – by the dismissal of Joe Root an over earlier, mind. At that point, England desperately needed Brook to stand up as a senior player – he is vice-captain, and will captain the ODI team later this month.
Brook has never looked out of form this summer, but he has lacked a little ruthlessness. In that, he is not alone in this England batting order. Ben Duckett has three centuries in 50 Test innings, and fell twice in this game with dismissals that might have seen Pietersen use the time-honoured “that’s the way I play” defence. Zak Crawley has four hundreds in 86 innings, and has reached 60 five times this year without making it to 80. If England are to beat India, Australia, or both, they will need to develop a taste for ruthlessness. They talk a lot about those series, but not about making the scores of 500 that will be required to win.
Paul Collingwood, the England assistant coach, was right in saying that Brook “is as exciting a batsman as you will see around the world”. But only when he relocates his patience and rhythm will he fulfil his outrageous potential.
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