‘Harry Brook is right up there’; Former greats praise English marvel after another dashing display in New Zealand

Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes Harry Brook is a generational talent, while David Warner has likened the English marvel to Australian star Travis Head after he scored another outstanding century against New Zealand.

The 25-year-old helped changed England’s fortunes once again in New Zealand with another audacious innings of the opening day of the second Test in Wellington on Friday.

While Brook received some good fortune when scoring a century in the first Test of the series, his knock on Friday against the Kiwis was indicative of a talent of the highest order.

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Brook’s average of 91.50 in matches away from England is the second highest in Test history behind Don Bradman in terms of games away from home from cricketers who have batted in at least ten innings.

Vaughan, who was watching the dashing display from Adelaide ahead of the first day of the Australia versus India Test, said Brook’s record stood up against other emerging talents including young Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.

“He’s an incredibly confident kid with a very clever, smart cricket brain. He has made eight centuries now in 23 games and he is averaging near on 100 away from home, with six centuries,” Vaughan told foxsports.com.au

“We’re talking about someone like Yashasvi Jaiswal, who understandably is getting talked about as being this generational player, but let’s be honest, Harry Brook is right up there as well, if not above that.”

Warner was renowned for his ability to take the attack to opposition bowlers and likes the aggression with which the English No.3, who made 123 from 115 balls before being run out, approaches his innings.

“It is a bit like a Brendon McCullum approach, wasn’t it, the way that he bats? He’s always been identified as a talent and a special guy moving forward,” he said.

“He is not too dissimilar to Travis Head with the way that he plays and how they both move the game forward. If they go away from that, then there’s questions that you can start raising.

“But if they keep playing the way that they do, and know what it is they are doing, they are going to keep putting bums on seats.”

Brook stepped away from the game for a period earlier this year to grieve the death of his grandmother, skipping a five Test tour of India and also opting out of an IPL contract with the Delhi Capitals.

But Warner admires the manner with which he has responded to the difficult period since he returned to the crease.

“He’s had a few setbacks. It was hard for him to miss that IPL stint, but for him, that’s what he needed to do, to go back and grieve (with his family), and everyone grieves differently,” the former Australian opener said.

“(But) he’s come back and come back strong. I think the way he goes about his business, he is aggressive. You have to take the approach that it might not come off sometimes, but you know what he’s capable of.”

Vaughan said the manner with which Brook batted also reminded him of England’s coach McCullum, who was a free-flowing batter when at his peak with New Zealand.

“I played against Brendon McCullum a few times and it causes chaos with you as a captain,” he said.

“The only time I felt that we could control Brendon was when we rolled a left arm around the wicket, angled in, but at least we could restrict a few areas of the ground.

“But I reckon that the captains who captain against Harry, and particularly (Tom Latham), he must think, ‘Oh, where do you put your field?’ Because he can hit it 360 (degrees).”

Vaughan said it was possible Brook will have a run of outs at some stage in his career given the manner with which he bats, but that he has shown a capacity to bounce back from testing situations.

“I mean, some people would say, ‘Oh, he must have a run of a kind of bad fortune playing that way’. But I think he’s got such a good eye,” he said.

“You look at him in the one-day series (against Australia) when he captained and he started with a couple of losses and got a bit of criticism, but suddenly he just stepped up and pretty much grabbed the series on his own.”

After being bowled out for 280 in 54.4 overs, England left New Zealand reeling at 5-86 at stumps on the first day in Wellington, giving the tourists a 196-run lead.

While England’s ‘Bazball’ approach has its critics, Vaughan said it is evident it is working against New Zealand.

“A Brendon McCullum saying is that you run towards the danger and England just will not allow, on a pitch that’s doing a bit, (rivals) to bowl length,” he said.

“And their philosophy is whether it’s sensible at times – and you have to say in New Zealand now on, this is the four Test match that the team have played in New Zealand in this era of playing ‘Bazball’ – on every occasion they’ve got a decent score and they have run towards the danger.”