Harry Brook walked off Edgbaston with that familiar mix of relief and frustration. The relief came from turning last week’s 99 at Headingley into a full-blown hundred – his ninth in Test cricket – the frustration from watching England tumble from 394 for 5 to 414 all out and hand India a 180-run first-innings advantage.
“I was definitely hungry to get a hundred today. I’d never been out in the 90s before,” he admitted afterwards. “It was disappointing, but I should have got a pair last week, so I can’t complain too much.”
For most of Friday the Yorkshireman looked in complete control, sharing a record 303-run partnership with debut keeper-batter Jamie Smith, whose unbeaten 184 is now the highest score by an England wicketkeeper. Smith’s driving through cover and willingness to pull anything short meant Brook could sit back, rotate the strike and watch the mayhem.
“He tried to change the momentum back in our favour and it worked for a long period of time,” Brook said. “It was awesome. It was so good to watch from the other end. I felt like he could hit four or six every ball. I was just trying to get him on strike.”
When Brook was eventually bowled for 158, cramped and virtually batting on one leg, England lost their way. India’s seamers, led by Jasprit Bumrah, rattled through the tail to claim 5 for 20 and seize momentum late in the day. By stumps the tourists were 64 for 1, a lead of 244, and looking well placed to square the series.
Cramp had been threatening Brook for the previous half-hour. “I was knackered,” he said. “It was [cramp in] my whole right side. I’d never had it before. Even the heat of [the subcontinent]. It was probably the death of me at the end, but yeah, I was knackered. It probably didn’t help that we fielded for two days and then batted for nearly a full day… It wasn’t ideal.”
That first sentence sums up England’s workload. After spending 151 overs in the field, the bowling group looked understandably weary when asked to take the new ball in fading light. Ben Stokes persisted with an attacking ring, but a combination of flat pitch and flatter limbs allowed India’s openers to glide along before Zak Crawley held a sharp catch to remove Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Smith’s knock deserved to be the story. At 23, he has already rewritten one slice of England’s record books, overtaking Alec Stewart’s 173 not out against New Zealand in 1994. His footwork against spin was decisive, and his strike-rate of 78 kept the scoreboard ticking without ever crossing into recklessness.
Brook, for once, played the supporting role – an unfamiliar position for a man averaging comfortably over 60 in Tests. He was happy to do so. “He tried to change the momentum back in our favour and it worked,” he repeated, emphasising that England’s dressing-room cares more for the collective than individual landmarks.
Yet the afternoon collapse means England’s batters will almost certainly be required to perform the rescue act again. India already have a cushion that could become match-winning if the pitch starts to deteriorate. The surface is still good for stroke-play, but Ravindra Jadeja extracted enough on day two to suggest batting last won’t be straightforward.
Asked whether England might consider shutting up shop if set an improbable target, Brook was unequivocal. “I think everybody in the world knows that we’re going to try and chase whatever they set us,” he said. “We’ve obviously got a big task at hand tomorrow morning and we’ll try and get a couple of wickets early on and try and put them under pressure.
“Obviously, they are in front of the minute, but if we get a couple of early wickets in the morning… you never know how this game can go. As we’ve seen last week, we got 7 for 30 runs and then 6 for 40 runs at Headingley and then they’ve done the same to us today. Everything happened so quickly and you never know how the game can go.”
Plenty, then, for both teams to ponder. England need early inroads, India the discipline to push their lead beyond the horizon. Brook and Smith have shown the hosts how to bat on this pitch; now the bowlers must do the heavy lifting if England are to maintain their 1-0 advantage.
