Brook blazes century in soggy Headingley stalemate
England star Harry Brook hit a stunning final day 100 not out in his first competitive innings since December as Yorkshire and Leicestershire had to settle for an opening round Vitality County Championship draw at Headingley.Brook arrived at the crease four balls into day four of this weather-ravaged Division Two fixture, overnight rain and a wet outfield once again delaying the start of play.Yorkshire resumed, at 1.35pm, on 72 for 2 in their first-innings reply to Leicestershire’s 354. George Hill fell caught off a miscue in the day’s opening over, paving the way for Brook to come in and royally entertain the 178 hardy spectators who had waited patiently for play.He smashed 14 fours and two sixes in 69 balls, Yorkshire declaring immediately on 264 for 6 just before tea in order to improve a slow over-rate from the first innings. They did so successfully as spinners Dan Moriarty and Lyth raced through 7.2 overs before the rain arrived at 4pm. No more play was possible, with Yorkshire taking 12 points and Leicestershire 13.Brook shared 128 inside 16 overs for the fourth wicket with fellow centurion Adam Lyth, who played second fiddle despite posting his 101 off 100 balls. Yorkshire’s opener started the day on 43.
Brook’s last competitive innings was for England against West Indies in a pre-Christmas T20 in Trinidad and Tobago. The 25-year-old was due to tour India with England’s Test team at the start of the year and also play for Delhi Capitals in the ongoing Indian Premier League. But he withdrew from both assignments, with his grandmother Pauline passing away.Brook preferred to play his cricket with Yorkshire so he could be around his grieving family. He will play the opening five Championship matches of the summer before turning his attentions to preparations for June’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA.”Harry Brook makes it look so easy,” Ottis Gibson, Yorkshire’s coach, said. “Having him in our batting line-up makes a huge difference. A lot of the communication was from him. We’ve put no pressure on him to play: ‘You go at your own pace with regards to when you come in here at Headingley’.”To be fair, he’s been coming in and has been having lots of nets. At a time like this, he’s been wanting to be around people he’s comfortable [with]. One of the conversations that we’ve had is that he just wants to play cricket with his mates again. He’s got a lot of mates in the dressing room, they’ve played a lot of cricket together and grown up through the age-groups.”This is his comfort in a difficult time. We are the benefactors of that, and we are very grateful to have him. I think we’ll enjoy watching him bat for the next four games if he carries on batting the way he is.”Brook also played in a friendly against Durham at Headingley on Easter Sunday and smashed 74 off 42 balls. This innings was played in the same manner.He drove his second ball, from seamer Matt Salisbury, for four straight down the ground and was particularly strong in that region, be it with precision or power. He also pulled seamer Scott Currie for six, off the front foot, over deep square leg twice in as many balls en route to a 35-ball fifty.
By this time, Lyth had reached his own half-century, off 59 balls, and he was first to a century. As he always is, the 36-year-old left-hander was particularly strong on the drive, and he also pulled Rehan Ahmed’s legspin over midwicket for his second six on the way to a 98-ball ton. Lyth fell caught at deep cover off Tom Scriven’s seam two balls later, with the score 201 for 4.Leicestershire played some excellent cricket during the first couple of days, both with bat and ball. And they started day four well when Salisbury forced Hill into a miscued drive to mid-off four balls into the day. But they had no answer to Brook’s brilliance. From quite early in his innings, a century almost felt inevitable.England spinner Rehan was amongst the Foxes bowlers taken to task – conceding 43 runs from five overs – though they did have success at the other end from Brook through ex-Yorkshire allrounder Ben Mike. He had claimed the first two wickets on the second day and returned to trap both Jonny Tattersall and Jordan Thompson lbw cheaply as the score became 254 for 6 late in the afternoon.This was also Brook’s first appearance of any kind for Yorkshire since July 2022, and he reached his 12th first-class century off 69 balls immediately before the declaration.