Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Harry Brook en-route to a match-clinching 75 against Australia at Headingley in 2023.
England versus Pakistan. Straightaway you think Harry Brook, for it’s a contest which has brought the very best out of Yorkshire’s batting superstar.
Brook has played six Test Matches against Pakistan and has 814 runs against them at an average of 84.1. Four hundreds and a fifty in 10 innings, including a famous career best of 317.
Put simply, if you’re turning up at Headingley from Wednesday expecting a Brooky special, well there’s every chance!
Strangely, all of Brook’s appearances against Pakistan have come away from home. But Headingley has brought the 27-year-old previous success.
In two Tests there, he has scored two half-centuries; 75 against Australia in 2023 and 99 against India last summer. Two games, two wins as well.
It obviously hasn’t been the easiest nine months or so for Brook, albeit he has just captained England to a couple of white-ball series wins over India. They won five games out of six across the T20 and 50-over formats.
He has also impressed with Sunrisers Leeds in The Hundred, helping them reach The Eliminator stage.
This might just be the start of another golden period in a career which promises so much and has certainly delivered plenty.
Picture by Stu Forster/Getty Images. Harry Brook hit a triple century against Pakistan at Multan in October 2024, sharing a record-breaking fourth-wicket partnership of 454 with his great mate and Yorkshire team-mate Joe Root.
They say that when Joe Root scored his maiden Test century at Headingley against New Zealand in 2013, the cheers from the Western Terrace could be heard across Leeds. You suspect if Brook scores Test Match ton number 11 this week, similar may well happen.
Given the opponents, who have Yorkshire involvement in their squad in the form of Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel and Abdullah Shafique – and given it being Joe Root’s first Test as captain for the second time in his career, it’s worth reflecting on that remarkable Test at Multan back in October 2024, which England won by an innings and 47 runs.
On a flat pitch, England were under early pressure as the hosts racked up 556. Masood, who had just finished his second and final season as White Rose captain, was Pakistan’s skipper at the time and top-scored with an impressive 151.
England’s response was going well when Brook and Root came together at 249-3 through the heart of day three, and they went on to share a fourth-wicket 454 to underpin a total of 823-7 declared.
Victory was later secured as Pakistan were bowled out for 220 second time around.
Brook posted a career best 317 and Root likewise with 262. This was the dream scenario for any Yorkshire supporter.
It was England’s third highest total, their highest ever partnership and Brook’s was our nation’s fifth highest individual score of all time.
It highlighted the Burley-in-Wharfedale star’s blockbuster talents, which will hopefully be on show in front of an adoring home crowd.
Picture by Dan Istitene/Getty Images. Harry Brook bats for Yorkshire against Warwickshire at Edgbaston back in May.
Brook is the only batter in international cricket in 2026 to have topped 1,000 runs across all three formats: Tests, ODIs and T20Is. He has 1,078 from 26 matches, including two hundreds and seven fifties, to be precise.
When Brook scored his maiden first-class century, for Yorkshire against Essex at Chelmsford in 2018, Root was at the crease.
A little over eight years on and the White Rose greats are set for a crucial and exciting week on home turf at the start of England’s new era of Test cricket. It could be a thrilling watch if history is anything to go by.
