Harry Brook on the England batting collpase after his dismissal as he expresses regret on his mode of dismissal.
‘Devastating’ – Harry Brook expresses regret after dismissal triggers England’s Oval collapse.
When Harry Brook arrived at the Oval Test on Monday morning, he was “very confident” that England would win, but following their six-run loss, he later looked back on his own departure with remorse.
In what appeared to be a game-changing fourth-wicket stand with Joe Root on Sunday, Brook hit an incredible 111 off 95 balls, pushing England to 301 for 3 in chase of 374. However, he was dismissed as the first domino to fall in a collapse of 7 for 66 after misfiring to mid-off while charging down and attempting to hit Akash Deep over extra cover for a third consecutive boundary.
“My thought process was just to try and hit as many runs as quick as possible,” Brook said at the post-match presentation. “Like I said, the game’s done if we need 40 runs with me and Rooty in there; if I get out there [with 40 to win], the game’s still done. Obviously, it didn’t work. Hindsight is a beautiful thing, and obviously, I wish now that I didn’t play that shot and get out.”
He told the BBC’s Test Match Special: “At the time, I was obviously very confident. If I’d have got a quick 30 off the next two overs, then the game is done. That was my thought process. I always try and take the game on and put them under immense pressure… I wish I was there at the end, but you can’t write them things.
“I had no idea that we were going to lose seven wickets for 60 runs. You’ve got arguably the best Test cricketer in the world out there at the time as well in Rooty, and in the back of my mind, [I thought] I’d try and get as many runs as quickly as possible and the game is done. I had every faith in Rooty that he was going to be there at the end.”
Ben Stokes sprung to his player’s defence and highlighted the wider value of his attacking approach. “Harry got us into that position by playing a particular way, putting the Indian bowlers under immense pressure to take them away from being able to consistently bowl the areas that they wanted to bowl in,” he said. “I’m sure everyone was applauding him when he brought up his hundred in the way that he did. Some of the shots he played were unbelievable. The dismissal and the way that he got out was a shot that we’d seen a lot of him do in that innings, which I’m sure was getting a lot of praise.”