Joe Root explains why Harry Brook is like Kevin Pietersen: ‘He makes my life so much easier’

Joe Root has compared batting with Harry Brook to being at the crease with England great Kevin Pietersen.

Root made his England Test debut in 2012 when Pietersen was in his pomp, with both batters scoring 73 in the first innings against India in Nagpur.

Brook was named England’s player of the series against India this summer, sharing a memorable 195 stand with Root in the final Test as the hosts came up just short of clinching the series victory.

“Harry Brook, he makes my life so much easier, the amount of pressure he just puts on bowlers,” said former Test captain Root on The Overlap and Betfair’s Stick to Cricket podcast.

“When KP was at the crease and his aura, his presence was quite intimidating, whereas with Harry it’s more about how he can hit you anywhere at any time.

“You just don’t know when it’s going to come. As a bowler, you think if they hit the top of off stump, it can either go over fine leg or it could go mid-off.

“You’re batting at the other end thinking this is Christmas because there’s a lot of people out there trying to control the rate and in many ways they stop trying to get you out, they try to stop you scoring.

“When you’ve got that mentality, or feel you’ve got that mentality against you as a batting group, it makes life a lot easier. There’s not that threat there from the opposition.”

England head to Australia this winter for a highly-anticipated Ashes series as big underdogs with the bookmakers.

But Root, England’s record run-scorer, insisted: “It doesn’t matter – you turn up and you’ve got five opportunities to beat Australia in Australia.

“You’ve got to just do everything to prepare well, make sure you’re ready, understand the conditions, the opposition, the external challenges that come with playing in those conditions, in Australia and enjoy it for what it is.”

PA

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