England’s great Ashes hope admits he must rein it in
Scott Bailey |
England star Harry Brook has conceded he needs to rein his batting in, labelling the shots he played to get out in both Perth and Brisbane as “shocking”.
The tourists named a largely unchanged team for the must-win third Test on Monday, with only seamer Josh Tongue coming into the side for Gus Atkinson.
Otherwise England have kept the faith in their batting, despite only Joe Root firing in the first two defeats.
After arriving as England’s great white hope for this summer’s Ashes, Brook has encapsulated the tourists’ issues with 98 runs at 24.5 across the first two Tests.
He was unlucky to glove a ball down legside on day one of the series, but edges to wider balls in separate innings at Perth Stadium and the Gabba have drawn criticism.
Brook has for a large part defined the BazBall era, blooded into Test cricket by Brendon McCullum in 2022 and averaging 55.05 across 32 Tests with 10 centuries.
His strike-rate of 87.36 is also the highest of any player in Test history with at least 1000 runs.
But the 26-year-old conceded in Adelaide on Monday that may need to change somewhat for the rest of this series, with England in must-win territory at 2-0 down.
“Sometimes we’ve got to rein it in a little bit,” Brook said.
“Learn when to absorb the pressure a little bit more and then realise when the opportunity arises to put pressure back on them.
“I feel like I probably haven’t done that as well as I usually do in this series so far.
“There’s no reason behind that, I just haven’t identified the situations well enough.”
Asked whether the bouncier Australian wickets had contributed to his dismissals given he usually dispatches balls outside off stump, Brook was blunt.
“No, they were shocking shots,” he responded.
“I’ll admit that every day of the week. Especially that one in Perth. It was nearly a bouncer and I’ve tried to drive it. It was just bad batting.
“The one in Brisbane, I’ve tried to hit for six. That’s what I mean when I say that I need to rein it in a little bit.
“I can almost just take that and hit it for one and get down the other end.
“I’ll be the first person to stand up and say that they were bad shots. I don’t regret them, but if I was there again, I’d try and play it slightly differently.”
Brook had been the hero of England’s revival from 2-0 down to draw the 2023 Ashes, hitting a fourth-innings 75 to help the hosts home in the third Test at Leeds.
England captain Ben Stokes urged his side to stand up and be counted after last week’s loss in Brisbane, saying there was no room for weakness in his dressing room.
“There’s them pressure situations, which we haven’t been really that good at so far,” Brook said.
“Everybody realises that and we’ve just got to stand up in them certain situations, read the game slightly better, which we’ve spoken about a lot.
“Just have a little bit of grit and determination about you. That might be the time to try and put it back on them. That might be the time to absorb.”
AAP
