Over the coming weeks, we will be running a series of articles on yorkshireccc.com with Jonny Tattersall, who has been reflecting on the key moments in Yorkshire’s promotion-winning campaign in the Vitality County Championship.
Entitled Tatts’ Magic moments, he starts with Harry Brook and his early-season 69-ball 100 not out on day four of the clash with Leicestershire at Headingley.
It may not have been an innings which contributed to an opening round victory over Leicestershire, but Harry Brook’s scintillating 69-ball 100 not out on the final day of a soggy draw was mightily impressive and significant in equal measures.
Days one and two were ravaged by wet weather, day three was washed out entirely and day four didn’t start on time.
It meant that, in reply to Leicestershire’s 354 all out, Brook didn’t get to the crease until just after lunch on the final day when Yorkshire fell to 73-3.
What followed was a clean display of hitting as the England star crashed 14 fours and two sixes, sharing a fourth-wicket stand of 128 with fellow centurion Adam Lyth, who made a superb 101 off 100 balls as Yorkshire chased a batting bonus point to reach 264-6 declared inside 43 overs and take their match haul to 12.
England and Yorkshire fans have seen Brook in this type of form many times before. Only last week, he hit a brilliant career best 317 in the Test Match win against Pakistan in Multan, for example.
But this knock against the Foxes was his first in a competitive match since December 21 and came on the back of a huge challenging personal period following the passing of his grandmother, Pauline.
Tattersall recalled: “I remember going out to bat with him and thinking when I was at the non-striker’s end, ‘He’s playing a completely different game here’.
“Rehan (Ahmed) was bowling at him, and I think he had pretty much everyone on the boundary and Brooky was still hitting the ball for four and six.
“Lads on the boundary were only having to move five yards and they still couldn’t get there!
“It was a special knock that, especially when you consider everything that he’d been through. It was testament to him and his character, and it showed his love for the game and for Yorkshire.”
Tattersall continued: “I always find that when Brooky strikes that right balance of aggression and situational play, he’s near enough impossible to bowl at.
“I remember him talking about the Ashes last summer and he got caught at extra cover when Australia were going bouncer barrage at him. He’d had a chat with Martin Speight (his former coach at Sedbergh), who had said to him, ‘You don’t need to play like that – just keep playing how you play’.
“That innings against Leicester was him finding the perfect balance.”
Brook pulled out of both England’s New Year Test tour of India, and the Indian Premier League which followed, in order to spend more time with his gran and then the wider family following her passing.
But he maintained his fitness with Yorkshire through pre-season and then wanted to start the season in the Championship and play alongside his close mates.
“He was around at training a fair bit during that time,” said Tattersall, who ended the season as Yorkshire’s stand-in captain with Shan Masood unavailable.
“He’d come in and do what he needed to and then disappear off home. But when he was in, he was fully focused on his cricket.
“He’s quite a private person is Brooky. He’s got his close friends – Coady is one of them and Hilly and Rev, who he spent a lot of time with at school. They spend a lot of time together. I’m sure he opened up to them a bit more.
“When he was around, I felt he was just his normal bubbly self. He’s brilliant to be around.”
Tattersall shared 53 for the fifth wicket with Brook against Leicestershire and has always enjoyed batting with the Burley-in-Wharfedale star.
He said: “We’ve actually spent quite a lot of time together through our time at Yorkshire. We did a bit of opening together in the early days in the second team.
“I remember putting on a big partnership with him against Leicestershire at Kibworth (June 2017) when we both got hundreds. He was so relaxed, and that helps me because I’m at my best when I’m relaxed, have a good laugh and just play.
“It helps when you’re like that, but a lot of our lads at Yorkshire are.”
Brook scored 388 runs in five early-season Championship matches, and similar availability in 2025 would be a huge boost to Anthony McGrath’s side as they embark upon an exciting Division One campaign.
“For sure,” Tattersall added. “It’s the same with all the England lads. Having Jonny for the last five games was really good, as it was with Rooty and Brooky at the start.
“It’s not always the runs they score, it’s the aura they bring to the team.
“You just have that increased confidence when you’re taking the field with them, that they’ve got your back and they want you to do well.”