Harry Brook scored his maiden ODI century to take England to a first win in their series against Australia at Chester-le-Street. It was an innings that eclipsed the backdrop of Brook's own summer, and reversed a narrative he only partly created.
A couple of half-centuries, a hundred against the West Indies, and losses against Australia in his first assignment in charge. It's hardly been the kind of fill-your-boots summer a player the calibre of Brook would have spied at its outset. For two years, Brook has been outlined as one of the next generation of all-format greats, ready to tear up the record books as the generation of the late 2010s slowly filter out. But, in England's quietest summer in years, Brook has been just that, quiet.
He gave a hint of his thought process recently in an interview with Wisden Cricket Monthly magazine. When asked if he found international cricket 'too easy' without the added layer of spectacle and pressure the biggest matches bring, he replied: "Erm, nah. But I do like a big game. I like to play in front of massive crowds and try to make that match-winning contribution in a big game. The crowds haven't been as good this summer."
It was a telling answer. While he was quick to reign himself in - "It's still a Test match at the end of the day" - there's no shame in that answer. He's the latest in a long line of entertainers, who's talent allows them to produce shows those fortunate enough to witness them will remember forever. Innings like the 90-ball century in his third Test innings in England's Rawalpindi take-down of Pakistan, the 75 at Leed last year that kept them in the Ashes series, his string of white-ball scores late last summer as a he fought his way into the World Cup squad.
When there's nothing to lose and little to gain, it doesn't do it for him. When cricket floats along from one three-match series to the next, with sparse crowds and eyes to the future, so does he.
However, for Brook personally, there was plenty at stake heading into the third ODI against Australia. Given the captaincy in Jos Buttler's absence, in a format he has yet to crack, in part due to the limited opportunities he gets to play it, and the World Champions in town, that's surely enough to generate that sparkle. The losses England were subjected to in the first two matches elevated those senses, as did the backlash to Brook's post-match quotes after the second ODI.
Having collapsed for the second match running, batter after batter holing out in what could've been a reasonable chase, he told Test Match Special: "We are out there to score runs. If you get caught on the boundary or in the field then who cares?"
Again there was a quick correction - "Obviously we care, but if you get out trying to score runs that's the way we play." - but the quotes were out there and the inevitable criticism followed. Whether those words warranted that criticism is debatable. Brook said nothing that different to what Eoin Morgan had said before him, and the rhetoric echoed Ben Stokes’ too - both are lauded among England's greatest modern captains. Nevertheless, saying it after a loss, when England have been in free-fall for a year having lost both their white-ball crowns within the last 12 months, perhaps wasn't the smartest timing. But there's a bluntness to Brook that comes from an in-built confidence that he will get runs on his next time out. And he did just that.
Rain halts England's chase at Chester-le-Street but Harry Brook's maiden ODI century gives them a win on DLS in the third ODI against Australia.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) September 24, 2024
That keeps the series alive at 2-1 to Australia with two left to play.
Scorecard: https://t.co/m2hl6NogNL#ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/3fFX2G1jl7
In Durham, with Australia having posted over 300, Phil Salt and Ben Duckett out less than four overs into the chase and faced with losing his first series as captain at the earliest opportunity, that familiar glint in Brook's eyes translated into his best. Mitchell Starc, who had bowled seven consecutive dot balls to Salt before dismissing him and picked up Duckett in the same over, bowled his first ball to Brook, and was met with a punch down the ground, punished for erring on his length with a boundary. He gave Josh Hazlewood the same treatment, reversing the control Australia's seamers had held over England's batters at Headingley.
When the part-time spinners came on, Glenn Maxwell and Matt Short, the balls did make it over the rope and, as Brook built a 156-run partnership with Jamie Smith, he changed the result from another disaster to near-certain win. He reached his century with a four edged behind the wicket, off his 87th ball at the crease, the required run-rate now falling into the low fives. His reaction was a look at the sky and an exhale of relief. A maiden ODI ton two years after his debut, a much-needed win after two losses, the headlines the day before, all went into that exhale. As did that he reached the milestone before the rain came.
All is not clearly not fixed. England have been outclassed by Australia, in a true stock-take of their current ODI standings. Buttler will return over the winter, and it's less than two weeks before Brook will step out in Multan in the Test format. But, tonight was a moment all Brook’s own, his own biggest night of the summer, as he eclipsed the narratives that had been unfolding in front of him.
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