Harry Brook scored his fourth century in New Zealand earlier this week, continuing his exceptional record there. It's a record built from both situational and structural factors which bring out his best, writes Katya Witney.
Harry Brook’s century in England’s opening ODI against New Zealand earlier this week was arguably his most extraordinary international performance to date. Having come out at 5-3, Brook scored a 101-ball 135, and was the last wicket to fall having taken his side to a total of 223. It was the highest percentage of runs scored by a single batter in a men’s ODI for England (60.53), the second-highest score for England batting at No.5 or lower in an ODI, and only the third instance of a batter scoring a century with their team having been three wickets down for less than 10 runs.
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That rescue act follows another candidate for Brook’s best England innings to date, which came in the second match of the Test series in New Zealand last winter. That game saw him come in at 26-3, before making 123 off 115 in a typically blitzed show which included 16 boundaries. That in itself was Brook’s second century in as many innings in New Zealand, coming after he scored 171 in the first Test. England were 45-3 when he came in on that occasion. On England’s previous Test tour to New Zealand, Brook scored what was then his highest Test score of 186, part of the game in which England enforced the follow on and lost by one run.
These knocks, incredible in isolation, are now part of Brook’s exceptional set of stats in New Zealand. After 13 innings across formats, he averages 72.76 and is closing in on 1,000 runs. His strike-rate is a frightening 109.74, and he’s the only player who scores at more than a run a ball and has an average higher than in the 30s in New Zealand. So what is it about New Zealand that brings out Brook’s best?
Flying on instinct
Brook’s billing as an exceptional talent has come largely from the carefree, instinctual nature in which he’s played his best innings. At his most free-flowing, when sixes ping off his bat to all four corners of the ground, the difference between Brook and the rest is the fraction more time he always seems to have to know exactly where the ball is coming at him, and where he can dispatch it to. Combined with the pre-meditated ramps, reverses and release shots, when it all comes together, the ball sails over the head of every fielder.
That air of uncomplicatedness extends off the pitch, and is more visible since becoming white-ball captain. When he first took over just for the summer in 2024, he got caught up in a media storm after clumsily breezing over a calamitous collapse. There’s an authenticity behind Brook’s press conferences, which is perhaps accentuated by his still relative inexperience, and that he’s still in his mid-20s. Nevertheless, that off-field laxity goes into building the image of Brook at the crease as a true uncomplicated genius whose raw talent breezes him through international cricket.
What else could explain some of those innings? Brook more than any other in England’s set-up embodies the risk-taking mantra he is now seeing through with the white-ball side. Equally, no one has reaped the rewards of those risks more than Brook has. In Wellington last year, he took on the bowlers who had taken four England wickets inside the first 13 overs of the day, immediately charging down the track to put Nathan Smith off his metronomic length. The 78 he scored in England’s final T20I earlier this month saw him do similar to Mitchell Santner, three consecutive boundaries taking him to 21 off his first seven deliveries.
There’s a piece of the picture that says, these rescue acts come because of the challenge. England have found themselves in early trouble consistently over the last two years when they’ve played in New Zealand. They were 21-3 before Brook’s 186 in Wellington, and 71-4 at one point during his Christchurch 171. That’s in addition to his most two recent rescue acts – the 123 last year and in the opening ODI. When England are teetering, Brook doubles down and reaches his decisive best. The scenarios he’s found himself in in New Zealand so far have brought that out.
The calculations behind the grill
There are other factors, however, which underpin Brook’s New Zealand dominance. One of those comes from the grounds themselves. Most of the venues New Zealand uses for international cricket are multi-purpose, and used for rugby during the off-season. That often means the square boundaries are sometimes disproportionately small compared to down the ground. Napier is the classic example of this, while Seddon Park – although a specialist cricket ground – also has small boundaries.
While the assumption the grounds in New Zealand are postage stamps is mostly incorrect, their shape does matter. The square boundaries at Wellington, for example, are much shorter than the ones straight of the wicket. During his hundred in the second Test last year, 64 per cent of Brook’s runs were hit in the zone square of the wicket on either side. It’s a pattern that goes back to his first big score in Wellington the year before, where the majority of his runs again came square of the wicket.
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Looking at his two innings in Christchurch however – in the first Test of the 2024 series and his T20I 78 earlier this month – that picture changes. In both innings Brook scored a significant proportion of his shots in front of square, straight of cover and midwicket. The Hagley Oval has bigger square boundaries, and relatively short straight ones. You can also see that in the quarter of Brook’s boundaries in the Test in Christchurch which were scored between the third man and fine leg region.
In Mount Maunganui, which has roughly consistent length of boundaries around the ground, the biggest difference in Brook’s scoring pattern can be seen. Nine of his 15 fours in the first Test there in 2023 were hit between backward square and dead straight behind the keeper. In his ODI 123 at the same venue, most of his sixes came off pull shots.
There is more to it than purely dimensions. Fielding positions, restrictions when they’re in place, pace on, and some batting friendly tracks all come into every decision. But, in looking to pinpoint why Brook’s record in New Zealand is so extraordinary, it’s in part because he does actually do his homework. Brook is brilliant at targeting a specific area of a ground, and hammering away at it. The quirks of grounds in New Zealand enable him to do that more effectively than anywhere else.
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