England's middle-order batter in Test cricket Harry Brook was quite unlucky in the first innings of the first Test of Ashes 2023 vs Australia. Brook got out in a strange fashion, surpising even the commentators who were calling the game. Ricky Ponting, Australia great and one of the commentators, said that he has never seen a dismissal like that.
Brook was looking solid in the middle before he played one ball from Nathan Lyon in a rather poor manner. It was the second ball of the 38th over, post the lunch. Lyon pitched one on the leg stump line, the length pulled back, Brook went on back foot but the ball got extra bounce and appeared to have hit his thighs before lobbing up. Wicketkeeper Alex Carey, batter and fielders around the bat were all clueless where the ball went. The ball came down and hit the stumps, dislodging the bails eventually. Australins began to celebrate as a disappointed Brook started to take the long walk back to the dressing room.
Watch Brook's unfortunate dismissal here:
A freak dismissal.
Live clips/Scorecard: https://t.co/TZMO0eJDwY pic.twitter.com/cIUQaANJ2x
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 16, 2023
Earlier, Ben Stokes won the match and asked Aussies to bowl first. England Openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley attacked from the word go. The openers reflected the 'Bazball' style of cricket that England have been playing for more than a year now. Duckett fell soon but Crawley continued playing shots and struck a quick fifty. Ollie Pope had a disappointing outing and with Crawley and Ben Stokes falling in quick succession, England found themselves in a difficult position. But Joe Root and Harry Brook stitched a good stand to not only provide the stability but also scored runs at quick speed.
After Brook departed, Jonny Bairstow joined Root in the middle and stitched a fifty-run stand for the sixth wicket. Josh Hazlewood, on his comback, picked 2 crucial wickets in form of Duckett and Stokes while Lyon too picked two. Scott Boland had picked one at the time of writing of this article.
