Brook and Pietersen: How England’s Most Unorthodox Batters Compare

Harry Brook is often compared with Kevin Pietersen, with some describing him as the TikTok generation’s equivalent of the former England star.

Pietersen made the switch hit a defining weapon, although Brook rarely uses it. His equivalent is a spectacular scoop over the bowler and wicketkeeper, a shot he did not attempt in this match.

Their approaches are most alike in how they read the length. Both are comfortable pulling, playing flat-batted shots or cutting spinners, even when the ball lands in a good area.

Brook demonstrated that skill throughout his partnership with Jos Buttler, who also made an impressive 80 from 44 balls. After debutant Aneurin Donald contributed 12, the pair added 128 runs.

Although Pietersen was educated in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and Brook grew up and trained in the Cumbrian hills near Sedbergh, both belong to the same creative cricketing tradition.

“That’s the way I play,” Pietersen said after pushing his luck with one aggressive stroke during a Test match in 2009. “I got to 97 playing that way, so it obviously wasn’t meant to be.”

Those remarks could easily have been made by Brook.

It is precisely this fearless approach that has made Pietersen and Brook more divisive figures among England supporters than any other modern batters.

“Is it really that hard to just sit back and admire these players for what they are, on the good days and the bad days, and stop berating them for doing things that we would never, ever, ever even think of doing because we simply aren’t on their level to think that way?” Ben Stokes wrote on social media.

Stokes, who has backed Brook to succeed him as England’s Test captain, has long been one of his strongest supporters.

If Brook’s career develops as many expect, comparing him with Pietersen will eventually become a familiar debate in the pub.

At 27, however, there is remarkably little to separate the two in terms of their records.

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