Former England batter Geoffrey Boycott identifies Harry Brook’s weakness amidst riveting form
Harry Brook #HarryBrook
England youngster Harry Brook’s sensational run with the bat might come to an end in the Ashes, which is set to be hosted later in 2023, feels former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott. The England batter has hit four centuries from 6 Test matches he has featured so far, starting his career with a Bradman-esque average.
However, Boycott has said that Brook might be found out by the trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, who have the ability to extract goo bounce at rapid pace. The former player in his column at The Telegraph has elaborated his argument with the example of England’s series against South Africa, where Brook played a solitary Test match.
“I feel this summer the Australians will challenge him with the short ball. He instinctively hooks up and with the extra pace and quality in their seamers hooking up can be a ‘getting out’ shot,” Boycott wrote in The Telegraph.
“If he can hit it for six every time then great, don’t change, but that is expecting a lot. He got out hooking in his first Test match at the Oval, to South Africa’s Marco Jansen caught at fine leg and Jansen is only lively fast medium,” the former player explained.
Brook has been in menacing form since his debut, hitting centuries in all Test matches against Pakistan and then following it up with breathtaking batting efforts vs New Zealand.
“Against New Zealand he played on hooking Neil Wagner, who has no great pace anymore. Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc are faster and even Josh Hazlewood gets awkward bounce,” Boycott predicted.
As things stand, Brook is not out on Day 1 of the second Test match against New Zealand at 184. The batter rescued England from a top order collapse and played a big part in a successful partnership with former captain Joe Root.
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