Image Source: AP
[Saba Sports News] Harry Brook is undeniably one of the rising stars in English cricket. This summer, he showcased his potential by scoring a half-century at Lord’s and a century at Trent Bridge against the West Indies.
Despite his achievements, the 25-year-old remains humble, dismissing comparisons with former greats and focusing on carving out his own unique path in the sport.
“I want to be my own batter. I want to be Harry Brook, not anybody else,” Brook said.
“But nowadays you have to take different parts of other batters and put it into your game. There’s so many good players out there. An example is Rooty playing the ball so late, or AB de Villiers hitting all around the ground, or Kevin Pietersen for his power.
“I’ve done a little bit of that but not too much. Rooty has just gone eighth in the all-time Test runs list, so I’d be stupid to not be tapping into his cricket knowledge and learning a few things from him.”
Outlining his vision for the next couple of years, Brook reiterated Test cricket as his priority, calling the format “top” of his list.
“I want to play every Test match I can for England,” said Brook. “I don’t want to think too far ahead. The Ashes is a long way away and we have a lot of Test cricket before then. My main focus is to stay in the moment and not get ahead of myself. There will be conversations with [Rob Key] and the head coaches but Test cricket is probably at the top of my list at the minute.”
Brook was named the Northern Superchargers captain earlier this year, and it’s yet to be seen how he takes to the role.
His name though seems to be making rounds as a potential candidate for the national white-ball captaincy as England are forced to take a long hard look after two back-to-back World Cup disappointments.
“This is my first captaincy role with the Superchargers, so we’ll see how that goes and then maybe I’ll have a different answer for you in a couple of months,” Brook said. “For now, I don’t see anything happening any time soon. So I’ll just stay in the moment and focus on Test cricket.
“Fred [Flintoff] just asked me if I wanted to be captain [in The Hundred], he thought I’d do a decent job. So we’ll see how we go. I [have] missed the first couple of games but I think I’ll be a fairly chilled captain. We’ve said all training will be optional. There’ll be nothing put on you as a player. Just be chilled, relaxed, go out there and express yourself and play.”