Harry Brook has the brio and bravery to thrive in England’s Bazball era

Jonny Bairstow’s bizarre injury robs England of a key player for Thursday’s third Test against South Africa, but it also opens the door for someone else – and the gap in England’s middle order will be filled by the massively promising Yorkshire batter Harry Brook.

Brook’s form in the early stages of this year’s County Championship – after 12 innings in the competition he averages 107.44 – was so good that he has spent the entire summer as next in line for a Test place, and his chance has finally arrived, albeit nearly two months after he last played a first-class match. It is five years since I first met him, when I coached England’s Under-19s on their 2017 tour of India, and as a result of what I saw then I have not been at all surprised by this success.

I remember one net in particular. Harry was in against the spinners and he was playing very confidently, using his feet very well, and he looked like he was enjoying himself. So I decided to challenge him and gave him a half bat, a training aid which is half the width of a normal bat. When you play one of these you have to be very precise with your footwork, and against spin you have to either get very close to the pitch of the ball or play off the back foot.

Harry, though, continued to play in exactly the same way – very aggressive, dancing down the wicket, hitting the ball back over the bowlers’ heads. And while doing it he’d turn to me and grin as if to say: “I can still play my way even with your thin bat.” And I was also grinning, because as a coach that is exactly the sort of character you want to see in a young player. He embraced the challenge not as a threat but as an opportunity to show his skill, and to have fun. I remember seeing exactly this quality in a