Harry Brook on his ranking battle for no1 with Root and sledging India ahead of fourth test

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Harry Brook on his ranking battle for no1 with Root and sledging India ahead of fourth test  21/07/2025  Old Trafford Cricket Stadium, Manchester, UK

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00:00The camera's all good at the back, we've got Harry Brooke.

00:30Harry, hi, 2-1 up in the series, 2-2 play, India with some injury problems, how important

00:48you don't let them back into the series here?

00:50Yeah, obviously we're in a strong position, we're happy with the way that the games have

00:53gone so far, they've been tense, they've been good to watch and yeah, we're looking forward

00:58to this week, another different challenge depending on the surface but yeah, India are a very

01:04strong side and hopefully we can go out there and beat them again.

01:07After what happened at Lourdes, do you feel you've got them on the ropes, you've got them

01:10rattled?

01:13I wouldn't say so, like I said, India is such a good side that they can bounce back at any

01:17stage, we saw that after beating them at Headingley, they've bounced back and had an excellent

01:21performance at Edgbaston so yeah, we've got to go out there, try and do our thing and hopefully

01:25it's better than theirs.

01:26We saw a bit of needle at Lourdes, which we haven't seen in an England test for some

01:31time, can we expect more of the same here?

01:34Oh God knows, we'll see what happens but yeah, we saw them guys going at Creeps and

01:39Ducky so we had a little chat and we thought we're a team so we may as well combine each

01:44other, get together and yeah, go back at them.

01:47Is it good for the game?

01:48Is it good for the drama?

01:49I've had a lot of compliments, everybody said that it was awesome to watch and it looked

01:53like there was 11 versus 2 out there when we were fielding and it was good fun, it was

01:58good fun, it was tiring but yeah, it was good, it made fielding a lot more enjoyable.

02:03You guys know where the line is though you feel, sometimes that line is trod carefully, you

02:10guys are confident you won't overstep it?

02:12Yeah absolutely and we try and play in the spirit of the game as much as possible and

02:17like I said them lads went hard at Creeps and Ducky on that night when Bunra bowled that

02:22single over so we watched that and we reassessed and we thought it was the right time to go

02:28back at them.

02:29Do you think it worked in your favour, that verbal battle?

02:31Yeah I think so, I think it put them under a little bit more pressure, obviously chasing

02:35a low score but on a tough pitch, it might have given them that little bit of added pressure

02:42and thankfully they ended up crumbling and we won the game.

02:45Sherb Bashir is out with a finger injury, Liam Dawson comes into the squad, a man you

02:51know well, you brought him back into the white ball team recently, what qualities does he

02:55bring?

02:56Yeah obviously different angles, left armour, as we've seen over the test series the footholds

03:02have been for the left handed batters outside off so hopefully he can land it in the footholds

03:06and create a bit of spice out of there and some opportunities to take wickets, he's obviously

03:11a very good batter as well, nearly 21st class 100 so that's adding to our strength in batting

03:18and yeah he's a good bloke, he's willing to always fight for the team, he's very competitive

03:22and it's good to have him here.

03:24Obviously Bash, sadly broken his finger, we're going to miss him, he's bowled exceptionally

03:29well over the period that he's been in the side and yeah he's, as we saw last week he's

03:34got tremendous fight, the way he came back out with a broken finger, did an amazing bit

03:39of fielding on the boundary just before he got that last wicket and just to have the

03:44balls to come back out and get that wicket with a broken finger in two or three places

03:49was an exceptional character I think.

03:52And Dawson made a successful white ball return, do you see any reason why he can't have a successful

03:57red ball return too?

03:58Yeah absolutely, he's a wily old fox, very experienced, he's a very skilful cricketer as well and he's

04:04played everywhere, played against everyone so hopefully he can have an amazing performance

04:08this week.

04:09Patrick go ahead.

04:10Harry, 20 years this week since the start of the 2005 Ash is obviously an iconic series,

04:16you're probably too young to remember it but does it feel like this is another compelling

04:19summer that could perhaps sell cricket to a wider audience?

04:22Yeah absolutely and every game that we've played so far has gone into the last hour of the game

04:27which you do not see very often.

04:30I've had a lot of people come up to me saying it's been an amazing series, thank you and

04:36everybody said that the Lords game was one of the best games that they've watched so

04:40it's been an amazing series and I'm looking forward to the rest of it.

04:44That summer back in 2005 there was a little bit of a needle in that one too, perhaps another

04:48similarity this summer, do you think that perhaps makes for a more compelling cricket?

04:52Yeah like I said before, I've had a lot of people come up to me saying it was awesome

04:56to watch.

04:57Like I said the 11 v2 on the pitch, that's how you get brought up to try and play cricket,

05:03work as a team, try and figure out how we're going to get them out and they always have

05:09to be nice.

05:10As we saw last week we tried to create a bit of niggle and who knows that might have played

05:15into our favour or we just balled well.

05:17It was good fun and I'm looking forward to the rest.

05:20You've won in a couple of different ways, big run chase and skipping a team out.

05:24Is that satisfying for the team as a whole to win in different circumstances?

05:28Yeah absolutely and we saw them set a ridiculous total for us at Edgbaston.

05:34They obviously, they were a little bit scared of setting us a total that we could potentially

05:40get.

05:41So that played into our favour and gave us a lot of confidence as well going into other

05:46games going forward.

05:47Chasing that total at Headingley was an unbelievable win as well.

05:52And then obviously last night at the fight and the determination we showed to get that

05:57last wicket and the skills and patience that Stokesy showed as well throughout that period

06:03where we couldn't quite find the wicket was awesome to watch and I'm sure it kept everybody

06:09on the edge of their seats.

06:10Dave, go ahead.

06:11Hi Harry.

06:12You say you've had a lot of compliments in the last week after a, you know, a stunning

06:16test match at Lord's.

06:18Is it therefore a bit exasperating to find out you've been docked a couple of points for

06:21slow over rates at all?

06:22I didn't even know that so that's news to me.

06:26Do you know anything about the general chat at large or do you have any views on it at

06:33all?

06:34No.

06:35I've stayed away from social media so I have absolutely no idea about anything.

06:37Is that a conscious decision this summer or is that just in general?

06:40Yeah, just stay away from it for now.

06:44I think you can pick up some bad things and some good things and I'd rather just stay away

06:49from it.

06:50Joffre Archer obviously made a stunning return last week as well.

06:53Do you think he's a different animal in red ball cricket?

06:56I know you've played a lot with him in white ball in the last 12 to 18 months.

06:59Do you think there's something about red ball that really gets him going?

07:03Yeah, I think he absolutely loves it, firstly.

07:06That opening spell he bowled to, on his first spell it was awesome to watch.

07:13He's balling nearly 94 mile an hour every ball and swinging it and yeah, that's, it's

07:18tough to face if I'm being honest with the slope as well.

07:21And it was just awesome to watch him get a wiki in his first over.

07:24And you've been knocked off top spot again in the baton rankings.

07:27I don't know whether you've seen that by jaw again.

07:30Is there like a competitive rivalry there between you two?

07:34Like a healthy rivalry?

07:36Everybody wants to be number one, don't they?

07:41Him probably more than anybody else.

07:43But no, he's a phenomenal player.

07:45I'm not in the same league as him so I'm happily letting him have it.

07:49He's played for 12, 13 years or however long he's played.

07:53He's, in my opinion, he's the best test batter of all time.

07:57So I'll let him have that one for now.

07:59Do you speak about it at all or do you?

08:02No, we haven't, no.

08:03He did the first time.

08:04He said well done.

08:05When we were in New Zealand, he said well done.

08:06He gave me a handshake.

08:07Yeah, and then he took it off me again three days later.

08:10He's done the same last week.

08:12Any more questions?

08:14Okay, I think we're done.

08:17We're going to do the BBC radio and then we'll do a written huddle for the UK media in the corner here.

08:22Yeah.

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