Harry Brook copped criticism for two shots he played during his innings at Brisbane. Katya Witney unpicks the frustration behind England's most talented young batter.
The Ashes, more than any other series and this one in particular, is a collection of individual narratives. England have gone to Australia in search of a series win Down Under to tie off a remarkable journey that started the last time they were there. Underneath that, you’ve got the personal mission of Ben Stokes who’s spent the last three years defending and refining the path he’s set his side on. There’s the proof at the end of the long line for Zak Crawley and Shoaib Bashir, Root’s now-realised mission to add a century in Australia to his record, Jofra Archer’s return years in the making, England’s plan to craft the fastest attack they’ve ever taken Down Under, all are individual threads to pick at beneath the overarching goal.
And then, there’s Harry Brook. Outrageously talented, already the second-best batter in the world, newly minted white-ball captain, England’s answer to Australia’s fire built in their own uncompromising mould. Brook is the outlier of the personal journeys, everything is set up for him to succeed. He has no scars from previous series in Australia, a ridiculous record in Test cricket away from home, and it would seem is not as susceptible to his inner demons and self-doubt as others – easy, when you’re more than good enough on autopilot.
Or not so easy as it may seem. The volleys he copped for his dismissal in the first innings at Perth were easy to deflect. Brook’s innings was the main reason England were able to get a score which, in the end, kept them in the game until the second innings. Pulling out of the hook shot a fraction of a second too late compared to the sins of those who came before was minor. Had he put that to bed today, there would have been nothing more to say.
It was the shot that didn’t get him out however, which provoked the ire of Matt Prior on TNT. It was a typical “bad shot”. England were three down after the rescue effort from 5-2, barely with 100 on the scoreboard. Three fours were crunched within his first 10 minutes in the middle, before the scoop shot came out. It didn’t matter that his foot was well back in before Alex Carey – up to the stumps – had whipped the bails off, Prior was incensed.
Matt Prior was furious with Harry Brook’s risky scoop attempt in Brisbane, which nearly saw him stumped.#AUSvENG #Ashes2025 pic.twitter.com/puzFZabtVH
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 4, 2025
“I'm a dinosaur now, fine, but this is Test cricket, this is the Ashes,” said Prior. “England are 139-3 on day one, you've got to take responsibility. Yes, be positive, this brand of cricket, Bazball – whatever you want to call it. But there is a time when you say, 'Harry Brook, you're the second-best batsman in the world currently, bat for an hour, take the game to the Aussies'.
“England have got an opportunity here to get themselves back into the Ashes, unless they play ridiculous shots and give their wickets away. Yes, have intent, but play the percentages."
None of this is new, and all of it is both right and a little bit wrong. Had Brook got out to that shot, the backlash would have been even worse than the one he did get out to. Australia had brought Carey up precisely to stop Brook from marching out of his crease, and wait for him to do something mad instead. Of course he did. Perhaps that’s the naivety of a 26-year-old elevated so early. Perhaps it’s the self-belief of someone told from a young age he’s so talented that everything he touches will turn to gold, and of someone who averages 56 in Test cricket and makes a hundred or a 50 pretty much every other time he bats. Far more than all of his critics. But, in truth, Brook is better than that, he has the ability to grow. Maybe, that growth should be coming quicker than it is.
The shot he actually got out to wasn’t quite as offensive an idea as that scoop shot. The drive was loose and the execution was wrong, a similar error as not getting his hands out of the way quickly enough in Perth. The timing of his dismissal is also a mark against him, dusk descending over the pink ball, Mitchell Starc back on and Stokes in next. Maybe a little more caution should have been implemented.
“He’s played 31 Test matches now,” Stuart Broad said on Channel 7. “He’s not someone starting out his Test match career… To me, now we’re getting into the situation of, is he recognising the game scenario? And 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?”
Simply, yes. But the way Brook responds to that knowledge and the way others do is different and inconsistent. Brook at his best shows awareness, responding to field changes and ground dimensions by belting boundaries in different places and fully committing to his mission. The frustration, evident from Broad’s next words, comes when he doesn’t do that: “You’re too good a player to gift Australia your wicket”.
The context to all of this is that Brook left the field at The Oval at the end of the summer more dejected than he’d ever been, having thrown his wicket away in one of the many micro-moments that ultimately cost England that series. He’d already scored 111 on that day, but it was a moment that looked like a turning point. He then went to New Zealand on his first overseas assignment as white-ball captain. There, he watched his teammates flounder and took it upon himself to show them exactly how he wanted them to play, before telling the press he wanted the others to ‘go harder’. Those mixed signals were slightly eased by assurances from Brook that he saw red and white-ball as “completely different sports”.
Nevertheless, 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. Perhaps in another, or even Prior’s era, he would have been someone different. Perhaps he wouldn’t have been. Perhaps he’d be the player ready to surge up the total Test run list in his mid-30s, the next to challenge that unbreakable record. Instead, the memories of the times it did come off will be, maybe not better, but maybe just as warm.
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.
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