NZ vs Eng – Harry Brook rates latest carnage as his best century so far

Vithushan EhantharajahFebruary 24, 2023 • 16 minutes ago

Harry Brook welcomed what he considers the best of his four Test hundreds to date, after helping England recover from 21-3 to end the first day of the second Test against New Zealand with 315 unbeaten.

This fourth century – the slowest yet, but still only at 107 deliveries – continued the subject of breaking records seemingly every time he comes out to bat. Nobody has more than 807 runs after their first nine innings, and at the time of writing only Sunil Gavaskar (912) and Don Bradman (862) have scored more in their first six Tests.

“I think so,” Brooke said when asked if that was the top of his four three-digit scores. “The position of the game makes that decision, to be honest. The ones in Pakistan were amazing and a lot of fun but they were all very flat. Today wasn’t flat. It’s a good cricket wicket, but not a flat place to clap anywhere. I did that a bit, but it’s a pretty good spot.

“It (the pitch) always gets easier as the ball gets a little older. The longer you hit, the easier it gets too. The hardest part about hitting is the first 20 balls. As you get through this, it will gradually get easier. The ball was getting a bit older and probably didn’t seem to be doing that much. It was still a little there and a little bounce.

The 24-year-old goes into Saturday unbeaten with a career high of 184. That Brook could play the way he did and comfortably operate over a run-a-ball for most of his innings was all the more impressive considering that scene when he got to the crease. The returning Matt Henry – accompanied by his captain Tim Southee, who had opted to bowl first after winning the toss on a green field – edged out England’s top three in seven overs.

With Joe Root – peeling off a 29th Test century during his 101 not out – Brook was the dominant scorer in a still uninterrupted tally of 294 – a new English record for every wicket in New Zealand – thanks to 24 fours and five sixes. Having come to Wellington in tests averaging a 77, he now sleeps above an average of 100.88.

“I’m sure it’s going to go down very quickly,” Brook said of the stat. “Clearly the duty is to stay grounded despite the falling records and even make a strong case for a fourth straight Player of the Match award. I was just saying that there are actually good times right now, but bad times could be just around the corner, so you need to enjoy those moments and rake in as much as you can.

“One of the things I’ve been working on over the past few years is to stay as level-headed as possible. There could be a bad moment from the corner and anything could happen, so enjoy the good moments. But we still have four days left to play and hopefully tomorrow I can be an important part of that.”

Brook is yet to score a double hundred, with a class-leading best of 194 against Kent last summer, and could have ticked that box on Friday had the rain not washed away the remaining 25 overs of the game. In fact, he also has a chance to beat his head coach: it was on this ground that Brendon McCullum recorded his best score of 302 against India in 2014. However, Brook says his motivation isn’t to hijack his boss, but to overtake his father.

In 2001, David Brook had batted an unbeaten 210 for Burley Cricket Club in the Airedale and Wharfedale League. Brook junior, then two years old, awaits a message reminding him of the remaining 26 runs to equalize.

“My father’s highest score is 210, and my highest [first-class] The score is 194. That’s in the back of my mind at the moment,” he said. “But obviously [I] have to play the first ball tomorrow, that’s the main thing.”