Harry Brook is quickly establishing himself as one of the premier Test batters in world cricket at the moment, and likely for years to come as he jumps from strength to strength. Brook scored his seventh and eighth Test centuries in the first iteration of the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy, scoring centuries in each of the first two matches against New Zealand and keeping his stellar year going.
Brook was rewarded to a rise to the top of the ICC Test batter rankings, overtaking his own teammate Joe Root, whose form in recent years has seen him widely considered the best batter in the format.
Nevertheless, if Brook was looking for another feather to go in his cap, has also received a vote of confidence regarding that stature by one of the greatest batters in the history of cricket in Ricky Ponting.
Speaking on the ICC Review, Ponting was full of praise for the 25-year-old English batter. "He probably is the best Test batter in the world right now. He's doing some pretty amazing things, most of them away from home,” said Ponting. “That's his seventh hundred away from home out of eight or nine hundreds, and it's the way he gets his runs--with class, and he does it quickly. I love watching him play.”
Brook had a hot start to his career, racking up his first four Test centuries in just his first six games. He also became the first England player to score a triple century in 34 years with a massive 317 against Pakistan earlier this year, and with 23 matches played in his career, averages over 60 in the red-ball format.
{{/usCountry}}Brook had a hot start to his career, racking up his first four Test centuries in just his first six games. He also became the first England player to score a triple century in 34 years with a massive 317 against Pakistan earlier this year, and with 23 matches played in his career, averages over 60 in the red-ball format.
{{/usCountry}}The big test for Brook will now arrive in the Ashes tour of Australia in 2025-26, with that being his first significant overseas tour having missed the series in India earlier this year due to personal reasons.
Brook's next step: translating Test form to white ball
Ponting also spoke about how he sees Brook as one of cricket’s greatest talents for years to come, reflecting on that being a reason why he purchased him for the Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2024 auction.
"I got him in the IPL auction last year because I think he is a generational type of player,” explained the former DC coach. “I think he's starting to show that now at Test level, and I believe he can do the same across all three formats.”
After a lacklustre first season in the IPL, Delhi and Ponting got their hands on Brook, but the English batter missed out on the season due to personal reasons. In the 2025 auction, with Ponting having traded camps to Punjab Kings, the Australian coach once again tried to get his hands on the English star, but Delhi managed to pip their former coach to secure Brook’s services for the foreseeable future.