Harry Brook believes England’s attacking approach to Test cricket suits him after a surprising start to his career.
It’s been a whirlwind 13 months for the 24-year-old Yorkshireman, who made his international debut in a T20 against the West Indies in Bridgetown last January.
He has since carved a place for himself in all three formats, winning a T20 World Cup, making four centuries in six Test appearances and coming within 11 runs of becoming just the second English batsman to score four tons in four matches after crushing 89 of 81. balls last month in New Zealand.
Brook has excelled in all forms of the international game.
“It’s been a good year,” Brook said. “I never thought that I would be saying that I am a World Cup winner, or that I have four hundred proofs.
“I think I’m very lucky to have made it to this Test side especially and the way we’re trying to play and the positive brand of cricket we’re trying to play and entertain the crowd, it suits my game more than anyone else. “. , In fact.”
Brook’s fate after the New Zealand tour was unlike any of his teammates: His ticket was booked to Florida, where he participated in spring training with Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals as part of of his new role as MLB ambassador.
“I had never seen a baseball game before until I came out,” Brook said. “That’s why I enjoyed it so much.
“The technology is ridiculous, all the things they had set up because obviously the ball is thrown out of your body and I’m used to hitting it on the tip.
“They had all the TVs and iPads where I would normally hit the ball. I was hitting it pretty close to where all the expensive stuff was, so they were getting a little scared.”
“We got there at seven-thirty, they had a game at one and they were all in the gym. They had a five-hour training session before the game. We’re playing an hour early in Test.” cricket. The amount of training, technology and analysis they do is remarkable.”
Brook made his Test debut in September and by February had already become the first player to score 800 runs in his first nine Test innings, and is on course to become the fastest ever to reach the 1000 mark.
That might suggest Brook doesn’t exactly need more batting practice, but he was still eager to soak up some tips from the Cardinals, who will face their arch-rivals Chicago Cubs at London Stadium in a two-game series on June 24. 25
He said: “All the guys there were stacked up, they were huge and they were saying all power comes from the legs. So if I was going to practice something now, I would practice to get a stronger base and use my legs for more.” power when I’m trying to hit.”
While Brook is busy promoting MLB’s return to the UK following its debut in 2019 (the second London Series was postponed due to the pandemic), his own sport is trying to make its way in America.
Cricket is one of the sports competing against baseball for inclusion in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic programme, with the ICC proposing a six-team T20 competition, while the US is also set to host the men’s World Cup. T20 in 2024.
Meanwhile, the T20 Major League Cricket tournament will launch its inaugural season with six US-based teams in July, with the first draft taking place on March 19 in Houston.
Returning to his sport of choice, Brook vowed there is more to come from himself and England, who begin their quest to win back the Ashes at Edgbaston on June 16.
He said: “Personally, I’ve obviously done well in recent months, but I feel like I can still improve my game a lot, so I’m sure everyone in the team can too.
“The World Cup win (it was the highlight of my career in England) so far, definitely. I’m speechless. It was so good I can’t describe that feeling. Obviously, we have the Ashes this summer.” If we get a win there, that could be a close contender.”
