Harry Brook: It’s the hardest time to bat under the lights

Harry Brook has conceded that England’s early declaration on the first day of the pink-ball Test against Black Caps was directed by the conditions, having batted 58.2 overs, England declared their innings at 325/9 to set New Zealand under pressure against the new ball under the lights.

England star batter Harry Brook has conceded that England’s early declaration on the first day of the pink-ball Test against Black Caps was directed by the conditions. Having batted 58.2 overs, England declared their innings at 325/9 to set New Zealand under pressure against the new ball under the lights.

The choice was indeed correct as veteran James Anderson removed Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls whereas Ollie Robinson got rid of Tom Latham, leaving the hosts in trouble at 37/3 by stumps.

“Yes, the gamble paid off,”

Brook said after the first day’s play.

“The best time to bowl is under these lights. You can extract the most amount of swing and seam so why not try and expose their top order to that? It’s the hardest time to bat and we’ve got three of the best bowlers to ever play the game. And thankfully we got three wickets.

“It just happened like that, to be honest. There was no plan at dinner to declare. Me and Foakesy (Ben Foakes) were still batting together and if I hadn’t got out, the plan would’ve been the same. But because I got out the plan changed, and Stokesy said if there are two bowlers in at the same time, give them a couple of overs and we’ll try and utilize the lights.”

Brook played a key role in England scoring a 300-plus total as he pounded 89 off just 81 deliveries as the visitors recovered from a precarious 154/4 to reach the 300-plus mark. 

At one stage, Brook appeared to be on track to set a new record for the fastest Test ton by an Englishman.

While admitting that the prospect of breaking the record did play on his mind, Brook is hopeful of putting these distractions away and going ahead in the future. “Yes, I was aware of the record,” he conceded. 

“The BBC told me the other day and it did stick in my mind a little bit. I was aware of that fastest century one as well. Obviously, I need to get that out of the back of my mind and concentrate on getting to a 100. To be fair, I went for it a couple of times in Pakistan. I’m not bothered now, to be honest. I’m just glad that I’ve got another Test 89.”