Ashes 2025-26: Was Harry Brook’s shot stupid or valid?

Zak Crawley is not on social media.

He has often claimed to be oblivious to criticism that has come his way throughout his England career.

It might have been for his own good if England team-mate Harry Brook’s passwords were changed before he got back to his Adelaide hotel room on Saturday night.

His dismissal after tea, bowled attempting a reverse sweep to off-spinner Nathan Lyon, was not pretty.

It opened the door for Lyon, who twirled out two more England batters to take Australia to the brink of an Ashes series win that has looked inevitable for some time with the tourists now 207-6.

The reaction to Brook’s shot and subsequent dismissal has been predictably brutal online.

Brook has tested the patience of England fans in recent months.

With that dismissal in the fifth Test against India at The Oval still fresh in the memory – when his bat ended up at square leg and the ball in the hands of mid-off as England threw away a landmark win – he tried to begin this series in fifth gear by scooping and swiping his way to 52.

In the second innings in Perth he pipped his team-mates in a competitive field for the most reckless dismissal by driving and edging for a three-ball duck moments after Ollie Pope had done the same, while his swish to Mitchell Starc under the lights in Brisbane may have been the worst of the lot.

The 26-year-old has copped plenty in Australia, though in that he is not alone.

Much of the frustration comes because of how good Brook can be. Pope plays poor shots, Crawley too, but neither of those average 55.05.

Brook, also now with the responsibility that comes with the Test vice-captaincy and the top job in white-ball cricket, made a start to his Test career which rivals the all-time greats, bringing with it its own expectations.

After four days enjoying the offerings of Noosa, Brook gave a welcome news conference at the start of the week in Adelaide.

He was, as he often is, frank about his poor returns and described those previous errors on tour as «shocking shots».

«Sometimes I’ve got to rein it in a little bit, learn to absorb the pressure a bit more,» he said.

«I need to realise when the opportunity arises to put the pressure back on them. I feel like I haven’t done that as well as I usually do.»

To Brook’s credit, he did that well in the first innings of the third Test by easing, rather than rollicking, to 45.

It was nowhere near enough – England needed one of their set batters to go as big as Travis Head did – but Brook did get a good ball from Cameron Green to which he got a thin edge.

Brook was similarly patient on Saturday.

He attempted one wild scoop but there were no attacking strokes in his first 25 balls – a welcome show of restraint for a man who is often described as having too many shots in his armoury for his own good.

And to go hard in criticising his ultimate demise would be ignoring the wider picture of the day.

Simply surviving for five sessions by blocking Nathan Lyon was impossible on a turning surface. To use Brook’s words, pressure, even just a little bit, had to be deflected, runs had to be scored and catchers had to be moved.

Brook was also not alone in playing the reverse sweep.

The right-hander, Crawley, Joe Root and later Will Jacks played the shot 20 times on Saturday afternoon and scored 29 runs.

It had Lyon going at five runs per over and even removed from the attack at one stage. The plan was working.

This was also the first time Brook has got out playing that kind of shot in his 33-Test career.

«They all tried to play sensibly,» BBC Test Match Special’s Jonathan Agnew said.

«People will look at Harry Brook’s dismissal. I get that. But they had played the reverse sweep quite deliberately and played it well to stop him just bowling at them all of the time with close fielders.

«The ball has been popping up and spinning. It is a legitimate tactic.»

Wicketkeeper Alex Carey may never have been the most abrasive of Australians but was similarly sympathetic.

«I’ve played shots like that, so I can’t really comment,» he said.

«I thought he had success playing the reverse-sweep – all their players actually played the reverse-sweep really well today.»

Brook was undoubtedly guilty of playing the shot to the wrong ball, though all reverses are pre-meditated.

Lyon had dragged his length back and pushed the ball straighter to leave Brook beaten, whether intentionally through the craft that comes with 567 Test wickets, or because Brook’s three such shots in succession to Travis Head shortly prior gave the game away.

The latter may have been Brook’s biggest failing.

His history does not help him and Brook must repay England over the coming weeks, months and years, having done so little in the first two Tests.

This, though, may be one to begrudgingly let go by.