Ben Stokes no longer plays for England - but that has not stopped him from rating players who do or did. Harry Brook is, in many ways, a modern-day Kevin Pietersen. A player with jaw-dropping batting ability who can take any bowling attacking apart and make accessing any part of the ground look routine but also prone to driving fans mad with a daft dismissal.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player In Southampton on Tuesday, though, we only saw the best of Brook as he tonked a 42-ball hundred - England's second-fastest in T20Is - against Sri Lanka, with his 10 fours and half a dozen sixes including six boundaries in one over off Dunith Wellalage. The swashbuckling innings was played in front of England legend Pietersen, who has joined head coach Brendon McCullum's white-ball set-up as a mentor, up to and including the 50-over World Cup in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe in late 2027. And Brook's knock lured Stokes onto social media to say that, in his opinion, the Yorkshireman's ability outstrips that of Pietersen.
Stokes, on the day he struck a half-century for Durham against Worcestershire in the County Championship, wrote: "I don't even think the genius of KP could come close to what Brook has talent-wise. You are an absolute freak, Harry. You're mint to watch." Shortly after, former Test captain Stokes added: "Bit harsh on KP actually.
Both are freak talents but Brook is better in my opinion." So, who do you think is the most talented of the two? Brook still has a long way to go to match Pietersen longevity-wise. KP amassed almost 14,000 international runs between 2004 and 2014, a number he was prevented from adding to after a fallout with the ECB truncated his England career.
Brook has over 6,500 international runs since debuting in 2022, so, all being well will eclipse Pietersen's haul at some stage. At 27, he could have over a decade left. Brook's sizzling century against Sri Lanka was his first in any international cricket since a T20 ton versus Pakistan in February, during a World Cup match in Pallekele.
The batter's picking up of length was extraordinary in an innings highly praised by Sky Sports pundits Eoin Morgan and Kumar Sangakkara. Sangakkara said of Brook: "He reads length so quickly. He is very light and nimble on his feet.
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