Sir Alastair Cook says Harry Brook is the best young English player of spin since Joe Root that he has ever seen, describing him as "exceptional".
Brook is regarded as one of English cricket's biggest young talents and he showed exactly why with a stunning 153 in just his second Test innings against Pakistan. The 23-year-old made plenty of history in the process, notably breaking Ben Stokes ' record for the fastest 150 scored by an England player as he reached the milestone of just 115 balls.
He also broke the record for the most runs scored off a single over by an Englishman twice over the course of his innings. And Cook has been hugely impressed by Brook, writing in a column for the Times : "I got a close-up view of Brook in May when he scored 123 for Yorkshire against Essex.
"I remember thinking that day that, after Joe Root, he was the best young English player of spin I had ever seen. Simon Harmer, the leading bowler in Essex's three county titles in recent years, was playing then yet Brook showed great footwork against him, and his ability to work Harmer through the off side was exceptional."
England hope Brook can become a lynchpin in their batting across all three formats for many years to come and he has already lifted a World Cup, having been part of the side that won the T20 World Cup in Australia last month.
And while Brook was not at his best during the tournament, scoring just 56 runs at an average of 11.20 and a strike rate of 96.55, Cook hit back at suggestions he "didn't quite live up to the billing".
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Philip Brown/Popperfoto/Popperfoto via Getty Images)Cook, instead, believes Brook's World Cup experience will "accelerate his maturity in all forms of the game." He added: "There was a sense during the T20 World Cup success in Australia that he didn't quite live up to the billing.
"I didn't buy that. Yes, he could have scored more runs, though he hardly let the side down.
"More significantly, he needed time to get used to the high-pressure intensity of an international T20 tournament. Experiencing that will accelerate his maturity in all forms of the game."
