Brook’s distorted reality bring England’s dream finish into focus
On Saturday evening, with England one down and still 324 away from winning this fifth Test and the series, Brendon McCullum ran through the ways they could do it all.
The runs would not be squarely on one man, he said. Partnerships, as they were for both previous 370-odd chases against India, would be crucial. With spirits and belief raised, McCullum sent his players away with one request: “Dream the dream”.
Now, they must dream another dream. And the gorgeous nonsense of this sport is those final 35 runs will bring a more restless sleep than the night before. With Chris Woakes expected to bat if required, they at least have four wickets to come, and a heavy roller to make their beds a little comfier.
They do not, however, have either Joe Root or Harry Brook. But England owe their favourable position to both. For 55.3 overs between their coming-together at 106 for 3, and Root’s dismissal at 337 for 6, Yorkshire’s favourite sons were making those dreams come true.
It was during their stand of 195 that England and their fans were deep in the REM cycle: revelling in lucid streams concocted from previous happy memories, and not simply those from previous Test chases. Mohammed Siraj’s misstep on the boundary sponge at long leg, after clinging onto a Brook hook for 19, was surely just a lazy re-interpretion of Trent Boult’s similar costly error during the 2019 World Cup final.
Brook, even by that point, was in his flow state, having charged Akash Deep to send him over cover for six. And so, rather than stir, he went deeper, clearing cover and then the cordon (deliberately) in the same over.
At times, Brook’s 10th century felt like contorted reality, altering a few universal laws across the 91 balls it took to get there.
Root, on his way to a 39th century, was playing his trusty anchor role, which offered the dressing-room and home fans grounding during such tense times. But, suddenly, the man who was No.2 on the all-time Test runscorers’s charts was, well, in the way. Thanks for the memories Joe, but piss off for a bit – Harry’s on one.
India’s pace trio, who had run roughshod over England’s line-up only two days earlier, were now being reduced to million-dollar cannon fodder.
Throughout the series, India’s support staff have been stationed around the boundary – saving the fielders’ legs and buying back time for overs – but now they were contributing to the very things they were supposed to prevent.
The balls were coming back from the boundary as quickly as they were heading there. At times, it was as if Shubman Gill had opted for Sisyphus at both ends. India at one point were six behind on overs, but also unable to slow the game down in a meaningful way.
The clarity of Brook’s boundaries lifted the atmosphere and quietened the dhols, despite how reliant the former had previously been on the latter. None of it really made sense.
Brook’s celebration, too, was out of the ordinary. He is, by his own admission, a muted celebrator, believing hundreds are just his job. But this time he pumped his fist, screamed towards the floor, cut the air with a fling of his bat and raised both arms aloft.
It was as much relief at England’s situation as a chance to draw a line under the last few weeks. Until this innings, an impressive series that ends with 481 runs at 53.44 had threatened to end with a bitter after-taste.
Brook’s part in the verbals in the closing overs at Lord’s had been followed by a bigger role in the dissent that marred the end of the Emirates Old Trafford Test. It put a target on his back, and it was clear that some quarters sensed an opportunity to get at a player still relatively early in his career, despite the size of the role he plays in this batting line-up.
A vital 53 on day two has now been followed by a stellar fourth-innings hundred, his second meaningful contribution in the last throes of a Test after his 75 against Australia at Headingley in 2023. This, too, may prove to be another match-winning contribution from a talent whose strike-rate of 87 is the highest of anyone with more than 1000 runs to their name.
“He mentioned that out there,” Root said, on Brook acknowledging the extra feeling fueling his celebrations. “I don’t even think he knew where it came from, but clearly it’s been a hard-fought series and, and he’s desperate to win games of cricket for England.”
Brook’s eye-catching demise then put the onus back on Root, who did not so much assume the lead role, but took it upon himself, as he picked apart the moments that India felt might have been heading their way.
After Prasidh Krishna removed Jacob Bethell, he beat Jamie Smith twice, then Mohammed Siraj attempted to pin Root down. A dabbed single to point punctured the crescendo-ing pressure, drawing relieved cheers from fans starting to wake up and face reality once more. And like all dreams, there was one last chance to clasp at a memory of love rather than fiction.
A shuffle across his stumps, and a tip around the corner took Root to his 39th hundred. After removing his helmet and initially saluting all corners, he pulled out a commemorative white headband made in honour of the late Graham Thorpe, put it on and saluted to the heavens.
You always hope to do right by your mentors. And for all the work Thorpe put into Root throughout his career – the fruits of which labour have given him a shot of becoming Test cricket’s all-time runscorer – there would have been uncertainty in the moment for Root. Doing right by someone when they pass is a duty for life.
All of us are made up of pieces of those who have reared us. Root’s third century of this series, and his general standing in the game’s history, is a testament to the part that Thorpe played in that development. But the ability to pay tribute with a knock of such guts and class, in a Test dedicated to Thorpe’s legacy at his home ground, merely underlined the romance of what was unfolding in front of us.
But then … a jolt of inspired bowling from Krishna removed Root, before Siraj’s unrelenting attitude sent the day’s final half-hour into nightmare territory as far as England were concerned.
Nerves rattled. Heads in space. A night’s sleep (if they can get it) will do everyone some good.
What dreams await this time may finally be realised on Monday.