England slugger Harry Brook was one of the players who gracefully defined Brendon McCullum’s Bazball era; However, amid England’s tragic Ashes collapse, the batter agreed to play “shocking” shots, leading to his own dismissal. Brook has a clearer reason to be more focused and calmer in Adelaide.
England are not hosting their most sophisticated tournament in the ongoing edition of The Ashes. The England team, popular for their unique batting tactics, struggled in the same area due to their overly aggressive batting style.
From time to time, English batters have lost their wickets on very loose deliveries and then cursed themselves in this series. Although the England manager was determined to follow this fierce approach, some players began to have doubts.
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‘Learn when to absorb a bit of pressure’, Harry Brook on change of approach ahead of Adelaide Test
England struggled to maintain their superb show in the Ashes against Australia due to the failure of Bazball’s strategies on the bouncy tracks of the island nation. One of the players England had pinned their hopes on was Harry Brook, the England vice-captain.
Brook averages 24.50 in the Summer Ashes, scoring just 98 runs in 4 Test innings in Australia. He may have been unlucky to bowl a ball down the leg side in the first innings of the first Test, but he was later criticized for throwing away his wickets to wider balls.
Right-handed hitter Harry Brook admitted he may have to change things up a bit for the rest of the series. “Sometimes we have to rein it in a bit,” Brook said, as quoted by cricket.com.au.
“Learn when to absorb a little more pressure and then realize when the opportunity presents itself to put the 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 it, I just haven’t identified those situations well enough,” Brook said.
“No, they were shocking shots,” admits Harry Brook in The Ashes.
He was also asked if the bouncing Australian wickets had largely contributed to the dismissals, but Brook replied bluntly: “No, they were shocking shots.”
He then admitted almost every mistake he made on those bouncy tracks, revealing that in Perth he almost drove into a delivery man, who was almost a bouncer. Another eminent proof of his poor batting was when he got out trying to hit a six in Brisbane.
“I’ll be the first person to stand up and say those were bad shots. I don’t regret them, but if I was there again, I would try to play a little differently,” Brook said.
“Everyone is aware of it and we just have to stand up,” confirmed Harry Brook.
After their second successive humiliating defeat at the Gabba, England skipper Ben Stokes said his side needed to stand up and stand out and claimed there was no place for weak men in his dressing room.
The England vice-captain also admitted that England have not been at their best in pressure situations in this series and hence would need to read the game a little better to mount a fightback.
“Just have a little courage and determination. Maybe this is the time to try to give back to them. Maybe this is the time to absorb,” confirmed Harry Brook.
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