England star Harry Brook has conceded he needs to rein his batting in, labelling the shots he played to get out in both Perth and Brisbane as “shocking”.<\/p>\n
The tourists named a largely unchanged team for the must-win third Test on Monday, with only seamer Josh Tongue coming into the side for Gus Atkinson.<\/p>\n
Otherwise England have kept the faith in their batting, despite only Joe Root firing in the first two defeats.<\/p>\n
After arriving as England’s great white hope for this summer’s Ashes, Brook has encapsulated the tourists’ issues with 98 runs at 24.5 across the first two Tests.<\/p>\n
He was unlucky to glove a ball down legside on day one of the series, but edges to wider balls in separate innings at Perth Stadium and the Gabba have drawn criticism.<\/p>\n
Brook has for a large part defined the BazBall era, blooded into Test cricket by Brendon McCullum in 2022 and averaging 55.05 across 32 Tests with 10 centuries.<\/p>\n
His strike-rate of 87.36 is also the highest of any player in Test history with at least 1000 runs.<\/p>\n
But the 26-year-old conceded in Adelaide on Tuesday that may need to change somewhat for the rest of this series, with England in must-win territory at 2-0 down.<\/p>\n
“Sometimes we’ve got to rein it in a little bit,” Brook said.<\/p>\n
“Learn when to absorb the pressure a little bit more and then realise when the opportunity arises to put pressure back on them.<\/p>\n
“I feel like I probably haven’t done that as well as I usually do in this series so far.<\/p>\n
“There’s no reason behind that, I just haven’t identified them situations well enough.”<\/p>\n
Asked whether the bouncier Australian wickets had contributed to his dismissals given he usually dispatches balls outside off stump, Brook was blunt.<\/p>\n
“No, they were shocking shots,” he responded.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Australia’s bowlers have gotten the better of Brook through two Tests. (Getty Images: Philip Brown)<\/p>\n
“I’ll admit that every day of the week. Especially that one in Perth. It was nearly a bouncer and I’ve tried to drive it. It was just bad batting.<\/p>\n
“The one in Brisbane, I’ve tried to hit for six. That’s what I mean when I try to say that I need to rein it in a little bit.<\/p>\n
“I can almost just take that and hit it for one and get down the other end.<\/p>\n
“I’ll be the first person to stand up and say that they were bad shots. I don’t regret them, but if I was there again, I’d try and play it slightly differently.”<\/p>\n