BASIN RESERVE — It was a case of history repeating itself on day one of this second Test against New Zealand as Harry Brook produced his latest batting masterpiece to dig England out of a hole in Wellington.
This is exactly what happened at this venue 22 months ago, Brook hitting 186 in a match his team eventually went on to lose by one agonising run.
Back then, England were 21 for three early on the opening day. This time, they were 26 for three. Without Brook’s brilliance that helped his team up to a total of 280, there’s no way New Zealand’s batters would have been under enough pressure to eventually close an action-packed opening day here on 86 for five.
A collapse that saw England lose their final four wickets for 21 runs looked to have undone much of Brook’s hard work during an outrageously eye-catching and belligerent innings of 123.
But it did not diminish the spellbinding contribution from a player who this week moved up to No2 in the world Test batting rankings behind only his team-mate Joe Root.
In all, 233 of England’s runs were scored when Brook was at the crease. Just 47 came without him. The collapse came after he was run out on the stroke of tea. It was a tame end to a mesmerising performance.
Brook now has 480 runs in his past three innings in New Zealand, with this, his second-fastest century in Tests, following on from his 171 in last week’s series opener in Christchurch.
He was dropped five times during that knock. There were no chances this time before he was run out, the 25-year-old ruthlessly picking off New Zealand’s attack during a brutal innings that saw him club five sixes and reach three figures in 91 balls.
One of those sixes – off the spin of Glenn Phillips early in the afternoon session – was so big it had to be retrieved from the road outside of the Basin Reserve, a ground that forms a huge roundabout in the middle of Wellington.
Brook’s average in New Zealand now stands at 103.83. His average this winter is 95.28, with these latest two centuries coming after his 317 against Pakistan in Multan in October. That was England’s first triple-hundred in 33 years and the second-fastest of all-time.
Brook rated this as even better given the seaming conditions that had New Zealand’s bowlers in the game from the very first ball and on a day when 15 wickets fell overall.
“I think that might be my favourite hundred so far,” he said. “I enjoyed that a lot. When I came in the pitch was doing quite a bit. It was seaming and swinging and I’m just glad I put my attacking mode on and really took it to them.
“That [Multan] pitch was extremely flat. You could just lean on it and the outfield was so rapid it would go for four. Here in the situation of the game, the pitch, and the way I played, I felt like I was really putting them under a lot of pressure.”
At the age of 25 and in just his 23rd Test, Brook now has eight centuries. Seven of those have come in 10 overseas Tests.
The Yorkshireman’s talent was evident from the very start of his international career in 2022. But the numbers he is putting up are entering territory that suggest he could become England’s greatest-ever batter.
Frankly, he is scoring runs so easily and so regularly it is ridiculous. His record away from England is also ridiculous. To put his numbers in some kind of context his overseas average of 91.50 is only bettered by Australian great Don Bradman (102.84).
Yet Brook does outdo “the Don” when it comes to his seven centuries away from home, with Bradman hitting only six in his first 10 Tests outside Australia.
Brook’s number of overseas centuries in such a small number of games is bordering on the freakish. Kevin Pietersen, who aside from Root is regarded as England’s greatest batter of the modern era, hit eight in 51 away Tests.
Ben Stokes, England’s captain, joked after Brook’s century in Christchurch last week: “I might only have to pick him in away Tests. He’s a phenomenal player.”
On the eve of this Test, he said of his move up to No 2 in the world rankings: “He’s 20-odd matches into what is going to be an incredible Test career.”
He’s not wrong.
Weirdly, Brook’s only century in 13 home Tests came against the West Indies at Trent Bridge last summer.
The discrepancy between his home average of 38.05 and overall Test average of 61.80 is explained by that phenomenal away record.
Yet with England’s next away Test series, winter 2025’s Ashes, that discrepancy isn’t necessarily a problem, especially as Brook did well against the Australians in the 2023 home Ashes.
He scored four half-centuries in that series, averaging 40.33. Given that encouraging start to Ashes cricket and his current run on the road this winter, England can realistically hope Brook will have a big series Down Under in a year’s time.
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