2 weeks ago
9
There were only 15 minutes to go until lunch when it occurred — which, for many miserabilists, compounded Harry Brook's sin.
Akash Deep ran in from the Pavilion End and, as he unleashed his delivery, Brook, who had been thrilling the crowd with some extravagant shot-making, dropped to one knee and tried to slog-sweep the ball towards the Mound Stand.
He missed it completely and it skipped behind him and over his trailing leg, knocked his middle stump out of the ground and sent his bails somersaulting merrily into the air. Brook's body sagged and it took him a few moments to hoist himself back to his feet.
Brook trudged back to the pavilion, pursued by a lava flow of criticism. 'Brook should be fined his match fee for that abomination of a shot,' Nick in Winchester informed one website and he was not alone in his view.
'It was a nothing shot,' former India coach Ravi Shastri said. 'He was only going to get one run even if he connected.'
Kumar Sangakkara was no more forgiving. 'It is not even Bazball,' he said. 'It is just arrogance. Way too much risk. There were 15 minutes to go to lunch. This is not smart batting.'
Harry Brook attacked Akash Deep but missed the ball completely and it skipped behind him
Before that, though, he had been entertaining the Lord's crowd before a barrage of criticism
Kumar Sangakkara said Brook's shot showed 'arrogance' and 'way too much risk' on Sky
And so, with Brook dismissed for 23 and India still bowling with the rage and fury that had gripped them at stumps on the previous evening, England were reduced to 87 for four and the debate about their cricketing philosophy, that always seems to reach its apogee here at Lord's, crackled again.
It felt like a significant moment on a pivotal day of cricket in the midst of an enthralling series against India that is finely poised and appeared, before the glories and the dramas of the final session, to be swinging the way of the tourists.
In that moment of Brook's fall, it felt as if Bazball was in peril. But then the truth is that the weight of criticism always makes it feel as if Bazball is in peril when any England batsman is dismissed for attempting any shot other than a forward defensive, or a sagacious leave outside off stump.
Perhaps the angst was greater now because this was a crucial moment in a crucial Test match against a fine team and because everyone knows Australia are pawing the ground, waiting to have another go at dismantling Ben Stokes' team when they travel Down Under this winter.
The criticism of the manner of Brooks' dismissal was also a symptom of a wider unease about England's top order, which is buckling under the pressure of facing this accomplished India bowling attack.
Zak Crawley failed again on Sunday. Ollie Pope came up short again, too. Calls for change are growing louder.
But the problem with castigating Brook for playing the way he plays is that playing the way he plays took him into this match as the No 1 batsman in the world in the ICC Test rankings, ahead of Joe Root and New Zealand's Kane Williamson.
It is Brook's shot selection and decision-making that has made him the player he is and if he sometimes gets it wrong, as he did on Monday, there is little point moaning about it too vociferously. That way, as another generation might have said, you throw the baby out with the bath water.
That, though, is what has taken Brook to the world's No 1 batsman spot after backing from Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum
No one was complaining when Brook was taking risks and scoring - that is how he plays
Brook is the kind of batsman that clears bars. You don't want to miss a minute when he is at the crease. He is a thrilling, destructive cricketer who can take the game away from an opponent with a blizzard of attacking shots, and it looked as if he might be about to do that on Sunday.
I sat in the Compton Upper to watch his innings and there are few fairer sights in sport than watching Brook cutting loose in the sunshine on a beautiful day at the Home of Cricket.
The crowd loved watching him begin his assault. He has been empowered by Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum to play with daring and invention. Sometimes he is so brazen about it, so impudent, it feels as if he is playing to the gallery. And, even at Lord's, there is still a gallery.
Those of us in the gallery lapped it up. Brook challenged Rishabh Pant to roll forward and then scooped a ball from Deep over the wicketkeeper to the long-leg boundary for four. High in the Compton Upper, the spectators roared with laughter at the nerve of it. The next ball, Brook did it again. The ball after that, he hit Deep over the mid-off boundary, a massive blow that went for six. When he got to play his next ball, against Nitish Kumar Reddy, he hit that for four, too.
Suddenly India, who had England pinned down beforehand, grew wary. Shubman Gill, their captain, made some defensive changes and relaxed the field a little. Brook's counter- attack had worked.
No one complained about Bazball in those moments. Nobody regretted the style and aggression that has become the hallmark of this team when they acclaimed Brook's glorious innovation.
That is the bargain. When a player such as Brook attacks the way he does, there is going to be risk. Nobody complains about the risk when the shots work and when the statistics tell you he is the best batsman in the world. Risk is only your enemy when you get out.
At the risk of enraging purists, the criticism of Brook misses the point of this England team. The point of this team is that it is greater than the sum of its parts. The point is that it entertains. The point is that it is relentlessly resilient.
When a player such as Brook attacks the way he does, there is always going to be risk
If that means that Brook occasionally gets out to a rash shot, I'll take that bargain every time
England are still fighting for their lives but how Brook is dismissed does not seen important
If that means that Brook occasionally gets out to a rash shot, I'll take that bargain every single time if it means that we get days like Sunday, which seemed to exemplify so much that is beautiful and uplifting about the game of cricket and the way this England team play.
Sure, they were up against it at times. And yes, they are still fighting for their lives as the Test goes into a fifth day with India reduced to 58 for 4 in their second innings, needing 135 more to win, and with the odds almost even.
By the last few overs, the ground was in tumult. Root was stirring up the crowd, Stokes was beating his chest with his hand, the crowd was roaring, Indian wickets were falling and everyone who loves cricket was sitting in the evening sunshine thanking their god that they were here to see it.
I will remember that feeling for a while. I will also remember Brook scooping Deep over his head for four in successive balls for a while, too.
At the end of a day like Sunday, how he was dismissed does not seem very important.
