England's comet Brook ready to be Ashes shooting star

Harry Brook will continue his "fearless" approach to Test cricket as English cricket's new comet. (AP PHOTO)

Whether the Australian bowling attack may or may not be the most formidable in world cricket at the moment, it's evidently not a matter of concern for Harry Brook.

"I don’t know," shrugged the rocket man of English cricket at Edgbaston on Wednesday when asked about whether Pat Cummins and co were the best he was yet to face.

"I’m just looking to play the ball, I’m not really bothered who’s bowling at me. It’s the same old ball coming down.

"Obviously, they’re good ... but it’s just another cricket ball coming at me."

That's Brook for you; make that a rocket man with feet firmly on the ground.

For while England may have gone wild about Harry, whose crisp, thrill-a-minute batting has swiftly elevated him into the cricketing stratosphere and made him the talk of the home Ashes build-up, there's something still delightfully unspoilt about this down-to-earth son of Yorkshire.

Four centuries in his first six Tests - goodness, only Don Bradman and Sunil Gavaskar have ever done that - means it's little wonder there's so much expectation surrounding the 24-year-old before Friday's opener.

Yet if he's feeling any pressure, especially after murmurs about his 'difficult' first IPL season in India, you'd never know it. 

Without sounding remotely gung-ho, the man who's smashed his first 818 runs in Tests at effectively a run a ball just enthuses: "I’m looking forward to challenging myself against them and whatever plans they have against me."

Like a prospective duel with Australia's premier spin maestro Nathan Lyon, 487 Test wickets and counting? How would he approach that challenge?  

"What do you think?" Brook grinned back. "If he bowls a good ball, then I'm going to respect it. Other than that, I'm going to try and take him on.

"He could get a lot of wickets, but hopefully we're going to hit him for a lot of runs." 

What, by maybe trying to clear defensive fields and maybe adding swiftly to the 20 sixes he's already clouted in Tests? 

"I didn’t say I’d try and hit him for six," responded Brook. 

"I’d like to think I’m a player who can find and hit different gaps. I try and play all around the wicket. I’ll see whatever field he has. I’m sure they’ll probably start with everybody up and we’ll go from there."

As for the quicks, Brooks smiled: "They might have a little bit of extra pace, but if they bowl quicker it tends to go to the boundary quicker." 

His meteoric rise hasn't come without a few downers. Before his historic hat-trick of hundreds in Pakistan and another blistering 186 in New Zealand, he'd had some mis-steps on the climb, with his latest now being an IPL season which featured one lovely hundred and a lot more failures.

Did he worry about the run shortage? "No - it’s a different format, different environment. This environment’s the best I’ve been in and I’m going to go out there and be fearless.

"I’ve always wanted to play against the best players in the world and see how good I really am."

The concern for Australia is that they might be just be about to find out. 

HARRY BROOK'S AMAZING START TO TEST CRICKET

South Africa (The Oval, Sept 2022) 12

Pakistan (Rawalpindi, Dec 2022) 153 & 87

Pakistan (Multan, Dec 2022) 9 & 108

Pakistan (Karachi, Dec 2022) 111

New Zealand (Mount Maunganui, Feb 2023) 89 & 54

New Zealand (Wellington, Feb 2023) 186 & 0

Ireland (Lord’s, June 2023) 9no

Total: 7 Tests, 11 innings, 1no, 818 runs, HS 186, Av 81.80, Strike-rate 99.03

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