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Indian Express
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
‘Never gotten out to it': Nasser Hussain dissects the Harry Brook shot that makes him a class apart in Test cricket
Harry Brook's stoic counter-attack kept England alive in the fight after their early collapse on Day 3 of the Edgbaston Test against India on Friday. Picking up the side with a record-breaking 303-run partnership alongside Jamie Smith, Brook played second fiddle in the onslaught but not without leaving his own impressions with the 'charge' against the India pacers. Brook patiently coasted to his ninth Test century, becoming the fastest England batter in 96 years since Herbert Sutcliffe (43) to get there in only 44 innings. The young Yorkshireman's Test average consequently moved past 60. At 60.37, Brook holds the second-highest Test average among active players who have played at least 20 innings, also the second among all Englishmen, behind Sutcliffe's 60.73. Former England captain Nasser Hussain was effusive in his praise of how Brook calibrated his innings and described how the sturdy right-hander punishes pacers to maintain the tempo, using a distinct shot-making technique by charging down the pitch. 'For his last three Test hundreds, he has walked to the crease with the scoreboard reading 45 for three, 26 for three and 25 for three here. He clearly deals well with pressure. Yes, on the second evening, he looked frenetic but that was simply because all of England's batsmen's brains were scrambled after 151 overs in the field,' Hussain wrote on his Daily Mail column. 'But the break overnight clearly did him some good, because from the start of that 303-run partnership with Jamie Smith, he was back to his normal, calm and composed self.' Hussain noted how Brook wasn't attempting to play catch-up with Smith even when the India seamers alternated from their short-ball ploy to bowling wide outside the off-stump. "A REAL talent!" 👌 Test century number nine for @Harry_Brook_88! 🏏@IGcom | 🏴 #ENGvIND 🇮🇳 — England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 4, 2025 'Importantly, he didn't try to keep up with Smith, either. Smith overtook him very quickly, but Brook just kept his own tempo. This was back to Bazball at its smartest.' 'Brook doesn't just play one way. He's a thinking cricketer and although there have been a couple of times that he has been sucked into things he perhaps shouldn't have – he had a couple of brain fades in the 2023 Ashes with the short ball, and then got a bit bored with Sri Lanka tactically bowling wide to him and lost focus – he adapts to playing the shots in his favour,' observed Hussain. Hussain explained how Brook forces bowlers to alternate their plans to his liking while adeptly using the charge, down the track, to hit them off their conventional lengths. 'His charging down the pitch early on Friday to counter the Indian seamers was a case in point. Brook is doing it for a reason. There's a method in that madness. He wants to put bowlers off and the statistics show you that he plays it well: 32 attempts at it have got him 92 runs, and he's never got out to it. 'It's clever batting: he charges because he realises there's a certain length he's uncomfortable with about seven metres down the pitch and when he sees a bowler bowling that length, he advances to hit him off it,' remarked Hussain.
India.com
04-07-2025
- Sport
- India.com
WATCH: Jamie Smith set new record against India with blazing century in one session
England's Jamie Smith celebrates after scoring a century on Day 3 of 2nd Test vs India at Edgbaston. (Source: X) England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith played a stunning counter-attacking knock on the third day of the second Test in the 'Tendulkar Anderson Trophy' series, notching up a century inside a single session of a Test match. Smith, who came into bat with England reeling after back-to-back wickets of Joe Root and their skipper Ben Stokes, smashed the fastest-ever Test century by an Englishman against India. Smith racked up his second Test hundred off 80 balls, to break the record of Ben Duckett – who had scored a 88-ball century in Rajkot in 2023. It was the joint-third fastest century by an English batter, level his partner in the current innings Harry Brook. Only Gilbert Jessop (off 76 balls) and Jonny Bairstow (off 77 balls) have scored faster hundreds than Smith. Smith and Brook have put on a remarkable 165 runs for the sixth wicket off only 154 balls with England reeling at 84 for 5 at one stage. The home side put on a 'Bazball' show with 172 runs coming in the opening session of third day's play. WATCH Jamie Smith notch up his second Test century HERE… Delivering on his incredible talent! 😍 Sensational from Jamie Smith! 🙌@IGcom | 🏴 #ENGvIND 🇮🇳 — England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 4, 2025 Who is Jamie Smith? Jamie Smith is a 24-year-old wicketkeeper from Surrey in England. He shot into prominence a couple of years back when he smashed the fastest-ever hundred by a Lions (England 'A') batter off only 71 balls against Sri Lanka in Galle. Before the Edgbaston game, Smith had turned out in 11 Tests and scored 725 runs at an average of 45.31 with 1 hundred and 4 fifties. Smith averages an impressive 42.8 in first-class cricket with 4409 runs to his name with 11 centuries and 20 fifties and a best of 234 not out. How did Team India perform? Mohammed Siraj started brilliantly for Team in the first session on Day 3. In the second over of the day, Siraj grabbed two massive wickets. First he strangled Joe Root down the leg-side for 22 to be snapped up by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant. Off the very next ball, England captain Ben Stokes got a brute of a delivery which he could only edge to the wicketkeeper for a golden duck. But from then on, it was one way traffic. Indian bowlers conceded 172 runs in the first session of play. Smith took Prasidh Krishna apart, smashing him for 22 runs in an over with 4 fours and a six. Prasidh's ploy of bowling short-balls at England came back to bite India again. It is the third most number of runs conceded by India inside one session after England's 176 runs in Rajkot and Australia's 213 runs in Sydney in 2015.
India Today
24-06-2025
- Sport
- India Today
ENG vs IND: Ben Duckett hits 4th innings century as England flaunt Bazball in Leeds
England opener Ben Duckett continued his fine form in home conditions, smashing his sixth Test century and spearheading England's chase of 371 on Day 5 of the first Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Duckett reached his hundred in just 121 balls, underlining his ability to score briskly under pressure.A central figure in England's much-discussed 'Bazball' revolution, Duckett led the charge on the final day, putting India under significant pressure. Alongside Zak Crawley, he added over 180 runs for the opening partnership, effectively extinguishing India's hopes of a final-day victory. When rain halted play in the second session on Tuesday, England were 181 for no loss, scoring at an impressive 4.43 runs per over. Duckett remained unbeaten on 105 off 126 balls, laced with 14 vs IND 1st Test Day 5 Updates Having scored 62 in the first innings, Duckett followed it up with a composed and confident knock, reflecting the poise of a batter familiar with conditions and in fine was Duckett's first century in the fourth innings of a Test and his third at home. He joined an elite group of England openers-including Graham Gooch, Geoffrey Boycott, Alastair Cook, and Andrew Strauss-who have registered a hundred in the fourth innings of a Test became only the third opener after Cook and Strauss to hit a fourth-innings hundred in the last 20 years. ENGLAND OPENERS WITH FOURTH INNINGS HUNDREDSHerbert Sutcliffe (3), Graham Gooch (3), Geoffrey Boycott (3), Michael Atherton (2), Jack Hobbs (2), Cyril Washbrook (2), Alastair Cook (2), Colin Milburn (1), Paul Gibb (1), Alec Stewart (1), Marcus Trescothick (1), Willie Watson (1), Rev. David Sheppard (1), Andrew Strauss (1), Michael Vaughan (1), Ben Duckett (1)Talk about standing up when we need it mostBen Duckett goes to his century@IGcom England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 24, 2025advertisementBen Duckett's Test hundredsHome: 3Away: 3 (Two in Pakistan, One in India)Duckett and Crawley resumed their innings on an overcast Tuesday morning, having negotiated a nervy 30-minute period late on Day 4. Both openers remained calm and risk-free in the first hour, navigating the threat posed by a Jasprit Bumrah-led bowling was Duckett who began to press on, punishing India with his remarkable shot selection and ability to put pressure back on the bowlers. He refused to be subdued by Bumrah, rotating the strike smartly and dispatching anything 97, Duckett was handed a lifeline when Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped a straightforward catch at deep fine-leg off the bowling of Mohammed Siraj-his fourth dropped chance of the brought up his hundred with a trademark reverse sweep off Ravindra Jadeja, once again displaying his unorthodox flair that left India, and especially stand-in captain Shubman Gill, struggling to set appropriate fields-even with a large tot- EndsMust Watch
Rhyl Journal
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Rhyl Journal
Ben Duckett thrilled as Ollie Pope silences questions about his England place
Pope was at the centre of an outstanding day of ultra-competitive Test cricket against India, finishing with exactly 100 not out as England fought their corner under pressure in this Rothesay Series opener. He walked out to bat on the second afternoon with everything stacked against him – India boasting 471 first-innings runs and the peerless Jasprit Bumrah having just made short work of Zak Crawley with the new ball. That 💯 moment… Take a bow. Oliver John Douglas Pope 🫡 🤝 @IGcom — England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 21, 2025 With grey clouds overhead and floodlights needed to improve visibility in the middle, it was a deeply unappetising situation for a player who came into the game with his place under scrutiny. A few hours later, having guided his side to 209 for three, the mere suggestion that he might be replaced any time soon felt fanciful in the extreme. 'It was goosebumps when he got his hundred, you could see what it meant to him,' said Duckett, who shared a stand of 122 with the vice-captain. 'He probably couldn't walk out in tougher conditions, Jasprit running down the hill with the lights on. 'There's no better feeling than that, scoring 100 against that attack after coming out at four for one. You can see that in the way he celebrated but it didn't just mean a lot to him, it meant a huge amount in the dressing room as well.' Much had been made of a theoretical head-to-head between Pope and rising star Jacob Bethell, a notion captain Ben Stokes swatted away on the eve of the match as he threw his full support behind the incumbent. The selection debate has been too loud to avoid but the Surrey man may well have settled it in the most public way possible, bat in hand in front of a sellout Saturday crowd in Yorkshire. 'We're very good at keeping things in the dressing room but obviously you can hear the noise from outside,' admitted Duckett. 'We're not having discussions in the dressing room about who's going to play. But the way Popey has dealt with that has been superb. It sums up and proves why he's England's number three and is doing what he's doing.' Duckett had a front row seat as Bumrah threw everything he had at England. The unpredictable paceman finished with three for 48 from 13 electric overs but could easily have doubled his haul given the number of edges, chances and near misses he generated. The last of those saw him have Harry Brook caught for a duck only to be called for a no-ball, a late gut punch, but he will surely be back for more. 'He's the best bowler in the world,' said Duckett, who was eventually bowled for 62. 'He's good in India on the flattest pitches ever and, when he's coming down the hill with the lights on, swinging both ways, it's tough. 'I feel we minimised the damage early on, it could have been a lot worse today so we're pretty happy with the position we're in.'
North Wales Chronicle
22-06-2025
- Sport
- North Wales Chronicle
Ben Duckett thrilled as Ollie Pope silences questions about his England place
Pope was at the centre of an outstanding day of ultra-competitive Test cricket against India, finishing with exactly 100 not out as England fought their corner under pressure in this Rothesay Series opener. He walked out to bat on the second afternoon with everything stacked against him – India boasting 471 first-innings runs and the peerless Jasprit Bumrah having just made short work of Zak Crawley with the new ball. That 💯 moment… Take a bow. Oliver John Douglas Pope 🫡 🤝 @IGcom — England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 21, 2025 With grey clouds overhead and floodlights needed to improve visibility in the middle, it was a deeply unappetising situation for a player who came into the game with his place under scrutiny. A few hours later, having guided his side to 209 for three, the mere suggestion that he might be replaced any time soon felt fanciful in the extreme. 'It was goosebumps when he got his hundred, you could see what it meant to him,' said Duckett, who shared a stand of 122 with the vice-captain. 'He probably couldn't walk out in tougher conditions, Jasprit running down the hill with the lights on. 'There's no better feeling than that, scoring 100 against that attack after coming out at four for one. You can see that in the way he celebrated but it didn't just mean a lot to him, it meant a huge amount in the dressing room as well.' Much had been made of a theoretical head-to-head between Pope and rising star Jacob Bethell, a notion captain Ben Stokes swatted away on the eve of the match as he threw his full support behind the incumbent. The selection debate has been too loud to avoid but the Surrey man may well have settled it in the most public way possible, bat in hand in front of a sellout Saturday crowd in Yorkshire. 'We're very good at keeping things in the dressing room but obviously you can hear the noise from outside,' admitted Duckett. 'We're not having discussions in the dressing room about who's going to play. But the way Popey has dealt with that has been superb. It sums up and proves why he's England's number three and is doing what he's doing.' Duckett had a front row seat as Bumrah threw everything he had at England. The unpredictable paceman finished with three for 48 from 13 electric overs but could easily have doubled his haul given the number of edges, chances and near misses he generated. The last of those saw him have Harry Brook caught for a duck only to be called for a no-ball, a late gut punch, but he will surely be back for more. 'He's the best bowler in the world,' said Duckett, who was eventually bowled for 62. 'He's good in India on the flattest pitches ever and, when he's coming down the hill with the lights on, swinging both ways, it's tough. 'I feel we minimised the damage early on, it could have been a lot worse today so we're pretty happy with the position we're in.'
