Not in the same league: Harry Brook hails Joe Root as best Test batter of all-time

India Today

Harry Brook opened up on the ongoing tussle in the ICC rankings between himself and Joe Root. Whilst he may be close to taking the number one spot, he acknowledged Joe Root as the best Test batter of all-time.

Transcript

00:00Ropes, you've got them rattled?

00:03I wouldn't say so.

00:04Like I said, India are such a good side that they can bounce back at any stage.

00:07We saw that after beating them at Headingley,

00:10they've bounced back and had an excellent form to Edgbaston.

00:12So, yeah, we've got to go out there, try and do our thing,

00:15and hopefully it's better than theirs.

00:17We saw a bit of needle at Lourdes,

00:18which we haven't seen in an England test for some time.

00:22Can we expect more of the same here?

00:24Oh, God knows. We'll see what happens.

00:26But, yeah, we saw them guys going at Creeps and Ducky,

00:30so we had a little chat and we thought we're a team,

00:33so we may as well combine each other, get together and go back at them.

00:37Is it good for the game? Is it good for the drama?

00:39I've had a lot of compliments.

00:41Everybody said that it was awesome to watch,

00:43and it looked like there was 11 versus 2 out there when we were fielding,

00:46and it was good fun.

00:48It was good fun. It was tiring, but, yeah, it was good.

00:52It made fielding a lot more enjoyable.

00:54You guys know where the line is, though.

00:55You feel that sometimes that line is trod carefully.

01:00You guys are confident you won't overstep it?

01:03Yeah, absolutely, and we try and play in the spirit of the game

01:06as much as possible, and like I said,

01:08them lads went hard at Creeps and Ducky on that night

01:11when Bunra bowled that single over,

01:13so we watched that and we reassessed

01:17and we thought it was the right time to go back at them.

01:19Do you think it worked in your favour, that verbal battle?

01:22Yeah, I think so.

01:23I think it put them under a little bit more pressure,

01:25obviously chasing a low score, but on a tough pitch.

01:29Yeah, it might have given them that little bit of added pressure,

01:33and thankfully they ended up crumbling and we won the game.

01:37Sherb Bashir's out with a finger injury.

01:39Liam Dawson comes into the squad.

01:41A man you know well.

01:42You brought him back into the white ball team recently.

01:44What qualities does he bring?

01:46Yeah, obviously different angles, left armour.

01:49As we've seen over the test series,

01:51the footholds have been for the left-handed batters outside off,

01:55so hopefully he can land it in the footholds

01:56and create a bit of spice out of there

01:59and some opportunities to take wickets.

02:01He's obviously a very good batter as well,

02:03nearly 21st class 100,

02:05so that's adding to our strength in batting.

02:08Yeah, he's a good bloke.

02:10He's willing to always fight for the team.

02:12He's very competitive and it's good to have him here.

02:14Obviously Bash, sadly broken his finger.

02:17We're going to miss him.

02:18He's bowled exceptionally well over the period that he's been in the side.

02:23And yeah, as we saw last week, he's got a tremendous fight.

02:26The way he came back out with a broken finger,

02:29did an amazing bit of fielding on the boundary

02:30just before he got that last wicket.

02:32And just to have the balls to come back out

02:36and get that wicket with a broken finger in two or three places

02:40was an exceptional character, I think.

02:42And Dawson made a successful white ball return.

02:45Do you see any reason why he can't have a successful red ball return too?

02:48Yeah, absolutely.

02:49He's a wily old fox, very experienced.

02:52He's a very skilful cricketer as well

02:54and he's played everywhere, played against everyone,

02:56so hopefully he can have an amazing performance this week.

03:00Patrick, go ahead.

03:01Harry, 20 years this week since the start of the 2005 Ash

03:06is obviously an iconic series.

03:07You're probably too young to remember it.

03:08But do you feel like this is another compelling summer

03:11that could perhaps sell cricket to a wider audience?

03:13Yeah, absolutely.

03:14And every game that we've played so far

03:16has gone into the last hour of the game,

03:18which you do not see very often.

03:21I've had a lot of people come up to me saying

03:23it's been an amazing series, thank you.

03:25And everybody said that the Lords game

03:28was one of the best games that they've watched.

03:30So it's been an amazing series

03:32and I'm looking forward to the rest of it.

03:34That summer back in 2005,

03:36there was a little bit of needle in that one too.

03:38Perhaps another similarity this summer.

03:39Do you think that perhaps makes for a more compelling cricket?

03:43Yeah, like I said before,

03:44I've had a lot of people come up to me saying

03:45it was awesome to watch.

03:47Like I said, the 11 v2 on the pitch,

03:50that's how you get brought up to try and play cricket,

03:53is work as a team,

03:55try and figure out how we're going to get them out.

03:57And you don't always have to be nice.

04:00As we saw last week,

04:01we tried to create a bit of niggle

04:03and who knows,

04:05that might have played into our favour

04:06or we just balled well.

04:07So yeah, it was good fun

04:09and yeah, I'm looking forward to the rest.

04:11You've won in a couple of different ways,

04:12big run chase and skittling a team out.

04:15Is that satisfying for the team as a whole

04:17to win in different circumstances?

04:19Yeah, absolutely.

04:20And we saw them set a ridiculous total for us at Edgbaston.

04:25They obviously,

04:26they were a little bit scared of setting us a total

04:29that we could potentially get.

04:32So that played into our favour

04:33and gave us a lot of confidence as well

04:35going into other games going forward.

04:38Chasing that total at Headingley

04:39was unbelievable to win as well.

04:42And then obviously last night at the fight

04:44and determination we showed

04:47to get that last wicket

04:48and the skills and patience

04:51that Stokesy showed as well

04:52throughout that period

04:53where we couldn't quite find the wicket.

04:56It was awesome to watch

04:58and I'm sure it kept everybody

05:00on the edge of their seats.

05:02Dave, go ahead.

05:03You say you've had a lot of compliments

05:05in the last week

05:05after a stunning test match at Lord's.

05:09Is it therefore a bit exasperating

05:10to find out you've been docked

05:11a couple of points for slower rates at all?

05:14I didn't even know that

05:15so that's news to me.

05:19Do you know anything

05:20about the general chat at large

05:22or do you have any views on it at all?

05:24No.

05:24I've stayed away from social media

05:26so I have absolutely no idea about anything.

05:28Is that a conscious decision this summer

05:29or is that just in general?

05:31Yeah, just stay away from it for now.

05:35I think you can pick up some bad things

05:37and some good things

05:38and I'd rather just stay away from it.

05:40Joffre Arch obviously made a stunning return

05:42last week as well.

05:44Do you think he's a different animal

05:45in red ball cricket?

05:46I know you've played a lot with him

05:47in white ball in the last 12 to 18 months.

05:49Do you think there's something about red ball

05:51that really gets him going?

05:54Yeah, I think he absolutely loves it.

05:56Firstly, that opening spell he bowled to...

06:00On his first spell it was awesome to watch.

06:04He was bowling nearly 94 mile an hour

06:05every ball and swinging it.

06:06And yeah, it's tough to face

06:10if I'm being honest with the slope as well.

06:12And it was just awesome to watch him

06:13get a wiki in his first over.

06:15And you've been knocked off top spot again

06:17in the baton rankings.

06:18I don't know whether you've seen that

06:19by jaw again.

06:22Is there like a competitive rivalry there

06:24between you two?

06:25Like a healthy rivalry?

06:27Everybody wants to be number one, don't they?

06:32Him probably more than anybody else.

06:35But no, he's a phenomenal player.

06:36I'm not in the same league as him.

06:38So I'm happily letting him have it.

06:40He's played for 12, 13 years

06:43or however long he's played.

06:45In my opinion, he's the best test batter

06:47of all time.

06:48So I'll let him have that one for now.

06:50Do you speak about it at all or do you?

06:52No, we haven't, no.

06:53He did the first time.

06:55He said, well done, when we're in New Zealand.

06:56He said, well done, give me a handshake.

06:59And yeah, and then he took it off me again

07:00three days later.

07:02He's done the same last week.

07:04Any more questions?

07:07Okay, I think we're done.

07:08We're going to do the BBC radio

07:10and then we'll do a written huddle

07:11for the UK media in the corner here.

07:13Yeah.

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