Left Arm Around

36 Test innings. Nine fifties. Seven centuries. An average of almost 60. The eighth fastest of all-time to 2000 runs. Simply staggering.

He led a charmed life as New Zealand failed to capitalise on the many chances presented to them, something they may regret come the end of the match, but Yorkshire’s Harry Brook again demonstrated just how talented a batter he already is. And this is only just the start.

As England ended 319-5, just 29 adrift of the Kiwi’s first-innings effort, Brook stands unbeaten on 132 from 163 deliveries with 12 boundaries.

On another day he’s back to the pavilion early without really troubling the scorers; his side are in deep trouble.

As all good players do, however, he made the opposition wilt and put the Black Caps to the sword with some incredible strokeplay that dug the Three Lions out of a potential hole.

STAT ALERT: Harry Brook has more overseas Test tons than David Warner, despite playing 90 fewer Test matches.

He has two centuries in New Zealand to go with four in Pakistan, including a highest score of 317 in Multan.

Potential generational great?

The current ‘fab four’ as coined by Martin Crowe is Joe Root, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Steve Smith- all of which are in the latter stages of their fabulous careers.

Question is: who is coming through the ranks?

Based on the evidence of the last year alone, the longest format is in safe hands and the baton is ready to passed on to the likes of Brook, India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sri Lanka’s Kamindu Mendis and New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra.

Bigger tests will face Brook as England welcome India next summer and Australia down-under for a mouth-watering Ashes series in the winter, both of which will probably need Brook’s runs and mettle in the middle-order for England to be successful.

But as he’s continued to prove on the international stage already, the 25-year-old is more than up for the battle. More than prepared to fight for his country.

It’s inevitable he’ll hit a stage of bad form at some point- every great player barring maybe Bradman does.

What will set him apart is how he deals with the pressures and various failures along the way.

Combining back-foot punches and front-foot drives, smashing pace and crunching spin, while also being firm in defence, it seems to the naked eye that Brook’s game doesn’t have many obvious weaknesses. If any at all.

And with a true Yorkshire grit and determination not dissimilar from his great teammate Joe Root, his temperament and mental strength seem equipped to deal with the rigours of elite level competition too.

When you put that in the equation, is there a limit to what he can achieve?

Only time will tell but perhaps Root should be worried about his records….