The second Ashes Test is currently taking place and on the outset, is nearing its end. England are seemingly on the ropes. Australia look like they are ready to hit the knockout blow. One talking point is the dismissal of England's Harry Brook in the first innings. A reckless and unnnecessary hit.
The curious case of Harry Brook continued at the Gabba, with a number of England greats left dumbfounded by the batter's latest Ashes dismissal.
Brook has already shown across four innings on Australian soil just how destructive he can be with the willow in hand with an eye-catching half-century in the series opener and a quickfire 31 on Thursday afternoon in the pink-ball Test.
In Brisbane, Brook had coasted to 31 from 33 balls, then threw a wild drive at a wide Mitchell Starc delivery. Any longer at the crease, with Joe Root having compiled a masterful century and England might have all but batted Australia out of the game in the day/night pink ball affair; with victory critical after a devastating opening loss in Perth.
For as much destruction as he can cause for an opposition bowling attack, Brook has proven to be equally self-destructive with a string of ugly moments. His latest dismissal came when England were building momentum and in a solid position on day one, with Brook at the crease with Joe Root at 210-4.
In need of a wicket, Australia brought left-arm quick, Mitchell Starc, back into the attack to break the partnership and, almost immediately, Brook went for a big booming drive outside the off-stump and edged it straight to Steve Smith in the slips cordon.
Smith reacted by shaking his head, almost in disbelief at the shot from Brook - but the Aussie captain wasn't the only one who couldn't believe his eyes.
"Oh Harry," former England captain, Michael Vaughan, said on BBC's Test Match Special. "The way that England have played in the last hour has just got them right in control. They have waited and waited, Australia, for Starc to come back on and within two balls Harry Brook's played a monstrous drive and gifted Australia a wicket." At the end of the clip on social media, Vaughan is seen putting his head in his hands.
Commentary reactions to these types of wickets from ex-England players have become a running gag now, such is the whirlwind of Bazball.
In the first game, Stuart Broad was caught fuming in the Seven broadcast box during a batting collapse and the legendary England seamer didn't mince his words when it came to Brook's moment of madness against the in-form Starc.
"Harry Brook has played 31 Tests - he's not someone who's starting out," Broad said. "We're now getting to the situation of 'is he recognising the game scenario?' That's such a crucial thing about Test-match cricket. Is Harry Brook aware of what's happening at that time in the Test match? There needs to be a couple of question marks over that. You probably need to have a discussion as a teammate, less as a coach, and say 'we're not just batting or having a net. This is Ashes cricket. This is really serious stuff.' It just feels like some of the dismissals are freebies."
Former English wicket-keeper, Matt Prior, lashed the 26-year-old's moment of madness. "It's ridiculous," he said on TNT Sports. "What is that shot? Ultimately, when you are out there, it comes down to the individual. England have Australia under pressure, and he tries something like that."
Michael Atherton was equally as frustrated after stumps on the Sky Sports coverage. "He's a destructive, game-changing player ... but equally, I think you do sit him down and say talk us through that situation," Atherton said.
Nasser Hussain believes that Root was miffed during his partnership with Brook. "He was actually getting a bit frustrated with Harry Brook," Hussain said. "I thought Harry was away with the fairies a bit today. Joe a couple of times hit it when there were easy runs ... and next ball, he nicked it.
"You don't want him to become in danger of some other previous players England have had who say 'that's the way I play' and that's fine, because it is the way he plays and he is very good. He's one of our finest players actually. But if he keeps getting out like that, he will learn quickly."
Writing for The Telegraph, Oliver Brown was merciless in his assessment of Brook’s dismissal, with the headline to his critique branding the England vice-captain, "Brainless Brook." "For sheer bone-headed misjudgment, it was a classic of his oeuvre (body or work)," Brown wrote, lamenting that Brook was well set when he "committed a cardinal error." "From a debutant, it would have been foolish. From a leader in this team, it was unforgivable."
"Sadly for Brook, this is becoming a pattern, with preposterous decisions derailing England’s progress at the most pivotal juncture of Test matches. In the series decider against India at the Oval, he had done all the hard graft, making a wonderful century, only to chip the ball to mid-off and set his side on the path to defeat by six runs. In Perth, he eased to a 50 courtesy of a series of luscious cover drives, before gloving Doggett to Carey down the leg side. This latest brain fade leapt straight into the canon of doltish Brook dismissals, indicating a disregard both for Starc’s threat and the delicate situation of the game."
Writing for The Sun, John Etheridge was no more generous. "Brook was as skittish as ever, dancing down the pitch a couple of times to thrash boundaries through the covers," he wrote. "But he also missed an attempted ramp and then, to the first ball of a Starc spell during the dangerous twilight period, aimed a wild drive and edged to second slip. Brainless."
Writing for Wisden, Katya Witney said that Brook would never have the cool-headedness of Root but could perhaps take the same lessons from early failing in Australia.
"Brook has been telling everyone who he is with complete clarity since he gave his first bashful smile taking off an England helmet. Those thrilling innings, more than flashes, are who he is, but so is the player who almost got out playing a scoop-shot 10 balls in during a crucial time in a crucial Test in a crucial series," she wrote.
"The frustration will likely always be there. All of those shots, the swagger, all of it, and still disappointment. What made England fans smile today was Root’s three figure celebration. Brook doesn’t have that temperament and he never will, and comparisons of the two Yorkshiremen don’t hold up. But it was a disappointing Ashes tour 12 years ago that set Root on course for his first peak, perhaps they will be similar in that regard."
The mere sight of Mitchell Starc stretching sparked a rumble of anticipation. His reputation preceded him, after all, as the pink-ball wizard, boasting more than twice as many wickets in day-night Tests as the next man.
The frustration wasn't simply that Brook, hardly for the first time, made a mockery of his outrageous talent. It was that England had weathered a calamitous opening, reducing Brendan Doggett to bloodless toil and laying a platform to absorb Starc’s bombardment. All the more maddening, then, that the vice-captain, looking well-set on 31, committed a cardinal error, reminiscent of the one that sealed his second-innings demise in Perth for a three-ball duck, loosely pushing at a ball that was never there to be hit.
Signs that this would all end in self-sabotage were difficult to ignore: after only 10 balls, Brook tried to scoop an 87mph howitzer from Michael Neser, with wicketkeeper, Alex Carey, hovering for a potential stumping. It wasn't just irresponsible, but inexplicable, like watching a watercolourist suddenly decide to daub his canvas with graffiti, just for the thrill of it.
Sure enough, he succumbed in similarly reckless fashion, trying to flay Starc to the boundary at the very moment he needed to absorb the pressure. "Monstrous," Michael Vaughan called it. Even through an Australian lens, the tactic was absurd, with Brad Haddin accusing Brook of selling both himself and his team short.
Sadly for Brook, this is becoming a pattern, with preposterous decisions derailing England’s progress at the most pivotal juncture of Test matches. In the series decider against India at the Oval, he had done all the hard graft, making a wonderful century, only to chip the ball to mid-off and set his side on the path to defeat by six runs. In Perth, he eased to a 50 courtesy of a series of luscious cover drives, before gloving Doggett to Carey down the leg side. This latest brain fade leapt straight into the canon of doltish Brook dismissals, indicating a disregard both for Starc’s threat and the delicate situation of the game.
Sometimes, you have to remind yourself that this is a figure who has scored a triple century, one of only six in England’s Test history, and who is still ranked as the second best batsman in the world. Even in this abbreviated performance, he produced evidence of these gifts. Treating one Doggett bouncer with contempt, he backed away and somehow scythed it behind point for four. The flipside of this fiery temperament is that he also tends to go down in flames.
It is reaching the stage where you question whether Brook is even conscious of the wider picture when he makes such daft choices or if he is sticking too literally to the Bazball precept that self-expression is all that matters.
The ridiculous scoop attempt just about pushed Matt Prior over the edge. "I just can’t get my head around it," he muttered. "You’ve got to take responsibility. Have intent, but play the percentages. I just can’t get on board with a shot like that."
Neither could Stuart Broad, who was just as nonplussed at how Brook eventually unravelled, failing to show sufficient respect to Starc and immediately exposing Stokes, out both times in the first Test to the same bowler, to the onslaught. "This is Ashes cricket and you’re too good of a player to gift Australia your wicket," he lamented. "But it just feels like some of his dismissals are freebies."
Starc in the twilight: this was always the peril for England, confronting a bowler with 81 wickets in this format. And yet when the moment came, they looked ill-prepared. In fairness, Brook was far from the only player culpable. Will Jacks, under huge pressure with the team six down, took one absent-minded swipe at Starc before nicking to Smith off the very next ball. The tail-enders were also clumsy in dealing with a fired-up Starc when they should have been playing to protect Joe Root, the hero of the hour.
Gus Atkinson top-edged a pull shot, drawing a stunning catch from a back-pedalling Carey, before Brydon Carse made one of Starc’s more routine balls appear world-class, wafting and drawing a decent grab from the keeper to his right.
Brook has amassed 2 872 in his Test career to date at an average in the mid-50s but has cost his team on numerous occasions with his aggressive mindset.
I think someone needs to remind him that cricket can be a funny game and it's a team sport. Brook should read the situation and adjust his game as such. I have a small feeling that he just thinks of himself. Just because your coach tells you to play a certain way, that doesn't give you a license to do it every single time. I'm with the former players and writers.