England red-ball vice-captain Harry Brook weathered the short-ball burst from the Australian pace attack on Day 1 of the fifth and final Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where he struck an unbeaten 78 and stitched a 154-run partnership with Joe Root to take the visitors to 211-3 on a rain-reduced day on Sunday. This is Brook’s highest individual score in the series thus far, but his ultra-aggressive approach and the modes of his dismissal have drawn a lot of criticism, especially regarding his inability to curb the attacking instincts that have seen him throw his wicket away on multiple occasions. On Sunday, a bouncer from Mitchell Starc nearly ended his stay in the middle when a reckless Brook pulled the short ball, but it ended up going to no-man’s land. Frustrated by Brook’s repeated mistakes, former England captain Michael Atherton questioned his approach. Atherton was critical of Brook’s approach against the short ball on day one in Sydney, saying, “He lost the plot a bit, and he was so lucky.” “When Australia went to the short-pitched ploy, I think it was the 31st over, so about seven overs and 40 minutes after lunch,” Atherton was quoted as saying by Sky Sports. “At that point, the match situation calls for just a bit of nous. Starc had bowled four [in that spell], so at most he had two overs left. He’d put everybody out on the fence on the leg side, so I think at that point you can just say to yourself, ‘let him blow himself out for two overs’. The main threat is then gone and you can tuck into the rest.” “At this point, England are in control of the game. They’d put on 100 already, the rest of the attack doesn’t look that threatening, and the pitch is obviously good. Everything is in your favour, so why then give a sniff of an opportunity? That was the area I would be critical of Brook today, but it was an otherwise excellent partnership [with Root] that has got England in a strong position.” England have already lost the Ashes in just 11 days of cricket after losing the first three Tests one-sidedly. The Three Lions pulled one back after winning the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne in two days.
Michael Atherton on Harry Brook’s innings in Sydney Ashes Test on Day 1: ‘Lost the plot… was so lucky’
