Is Harry Brook going to be the next Alastair Cook for England?

Alastair Cook is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen from the English cricket team, earning the title of "Sir" before his name. He held the record for the highest number of centuries for England until Joe Root surpassed him a few days ago, scoring his 34th Test century against Sri Lanka in the second Test of a 3-match series. Despite his impressive record as a batsman, Cook was also known as one of the greatest captains of the Three Lions, leading the team to 24 wins in 59 Tests. After representing England for over 17 years, the southpaw announced his retirement on October 13, 2023.

Cook, a left-handed batter, amassed over 12,000 runs in 161 Tests at an average of 45, with 33 centuries to his name. He also scored 5 hundreds in the ODI format. Alastair Cook's cricketing career was a blessing for fans worldwide, but when it comes to finding a successor of his caliber, particularly in red-ball cricket, which name stands out as a potential heir to his legacy?

The England national cricket team is currently in a transitional phase after the retirement of several former cricketers. They now have a completely new, young squad filled with immense potential and talent. One such player is Harry Brook, a right-handed middle-order batter, who was recently named the temporary captain of England after Jos Buttler was ruled out of the series due to injury. Brook will lead the team in a five-match ODI series against Australia, starting tomorrow.

However, it hasn't been an easy journey for the 25-year-old, who made his debut for England just two years ago. In that short time, Brook has become a key player across all formats, drawing comparisons to GOATs like Alastair Cook in the early stages of his career. After debuting against South Africa in September 2022, Brook toured Pakistan and New Zealand, showcasing his prowess with consecutive scores of 153, 87, 9, 111, 89, 54, and 186, taking his overall tally to 809 runs in nine innings at an extraordinary strike-rate of 98.77.

Brook became the talk of the town as no player in Test history had started his career with such an impressive run. Former Indian cricketer Vinod Kambli had 796 runs after his own first nine innings, and even Brook's anticlimactic tenth innings (run out without facing a ball in England's thrilling one-run defeat at Wellington) couldn’t diminish his achievement.

Brook’s impressive numbers earned him a spot in the Indian Premier League, where he was picked up by Sunrisers Hyderabad for a whopping price of 13.25 crores. 

However, this wasn’t his first notable performance. As the former England U19 captain, Brook had already shown flashes of brilliance for Yorkshire, notably scoring his maiden first-class hundred at Chelmsford in 2018. He also recorded a List A century at the start of Yorkshire's 2019 Royal London Cup campaign and displayed greater consistency the following summer, averaging 43.00 in the Bob Willis Trophy.

Although Brook had a strong record in the longer format, he wasn’t initially a big name in T20 cricket. His reputation in the shorter format grew after impressive performances in England’s domestic T20 tournament, the T20 Blast. 

Initially playing as a finisher in 2020, Brook moved up to No. 4 in 2021, where he made his mark. An innings of 62 from 31 balls for the Northern Superchargers in the first Hundred game caught the attention of Ben Stokes, who predicted Brook's future success with England. Brook’s strengths lie in playing against seamers, hitting down the ground or over midwicket and the covers, and his innovative shots, like reverse-laps and scoops in the death overs, have added to his versatility.

That being said, it would be unfair to compare the young cricketer to a legend like Alastair Cook at this stage of his career. While Brook shows immense promise, placing undue pressure on him to be Cook’s successor would be premature.