Will we ever tire of talking about Harry Brook?
From the slogs in Perth, the wild drive in Brisbane, the reverse sweep in Adelaide or his Boxing Day bash, the England batter has been the most discussed touring player throughout this Ashes series.
Moments of good have been drowned out by the brain fades.
On day one of the fifth Test in Sydney, Brook made 78 not out – his highest score of the series so far.
Recent history warns against getting ahead of ourselves, but he and Joe Root have built a position at 211-3 on a flat pitch from which good teams would control the game.
Albeit too late for the series, much of this innings was the Brook England fans have asked for.
Coming in at 57-3, he eased to 20 from his first 30 balls with little alarm.
After an inside edge second ball narrowly missed his stumps, he dropped his next delivery into the off side and rotated the strike.
Across his 92 balls he defended or left 53% of deliveries on the classic ‘good length’ – a decent jump compared with the first four Tests of the series.
Brook appeared to be learning.
But things are rarely straightforward with England’s vice-captain.
At Melbourne he went beyond 3,000 Test runs in his 57th innings, a number only Herbert Sutcliffe can better for England, yet he still causes so much frustration.
He has reached 15 in seven of his eight previous innings of the tour without passing 51 – falling on at least two occasions to shots he himself described as “shocking”.
Here, having said in Adelaide he wanted to learn when best to apply the pressure, Brook reached the close unbeaten but so very nearly fell to another rush of blood.
Have you learned, Harry? Really?
Brook had 38 from 48 balls to his name when Australia turned to the most obvious of plans.
Captain Steve Smith and bowler Mitchell Starc stood together, five fielders were pushed into the shadows of the Sydney Cricket Ground’s famous stands and the ball was bowled short.
Australia knew what would happen next, England’s fans too. Brook can never resist.
Two balls into Australia’s Plan B, one that reduced the series’ best bowler in Starc to a battering ram, Brook backed away and almost top-edged a catch to the fielder lurking at third.
In Starc’s next over he got a warning when miscuing a pull shot towards mid-on, only to ignore it and repeat the shot from his next delivery.
The ball looped high into the sky but none of the three Australians positioned could cover the ground needed to complete the catch.
This time, Brook survived.
After getting through Starc, Brook misplaced another bouncer close to fine leg.
Then, rather than putting away the shot, he unfurled his full power to lift another from all-rounder Cameron Green into the stands.
It was a typical Brook response.
“I just didn’t feel like I was getting on top of the ball as well as I usually do,” he said.
“The wind was obviously going that way, so I just felt like everything was set up for me, and everything was coming through quicker when I started trying to go aerial.
“And if I get a little bit of bat on ball, then most of the time it’s going to go for six.”
After 59 innings, Brook has 3,130 runs and an average of 55.89.
It is why he is tipped to succeed the current ‘Fab Four’ – Root, Smith, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson – to be one of the leading batters in the next generation.
Throughout their careers, that current crop have made century-making feel inevitable.
How many times has Steve Smith lurching across and tucking to leg left you knowing you must settle in for the long haul?
That Virat Kohli flick of the wrists to send a ball through mid-wicket? You just knew a hundred would follow.
“I think he [Brook] will still evolve,” said former England captain Sir Alastair Cook on TNT Sports.
“The reason he is averaging 56, one of fastest to 3,000 Test runs, is he thinks differently.
“He has that genius in him and with that genius is a sense of maverick to his batting.
“He will crave greatness and real consistency. He will fine-tune that balance.”
Former England spinner Graeme Swann added: “When there are four men out on the leg side and three on the off side in two or three years’ time, that will be the period he just gets out of the way of it, tires the bower out and makes sure one or two of the fielders come in and then goes for it.”
Brook did offer some comfort to those who would like him to rein it in.
“I’ve just got to be a little bit more patient and take my ones here and there and thankfully, I did that today, I did that in a couple of the other innings as well,” he said.
“That’s something I’ve got to think about going forward and put that into my game and look to try and be a little bit patient at times, whether that’s taking my ones instead of trying to hit boundaries, then so be it.”
Brook could score his first hundred in Australia on day two, after which the talk would continue.
Frustrating and entertaining in equal measure, Brook is still searching for his ideal method.
