Brook transcends brain rot (briefly) to give England glimmer

In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is king. And it helped that the king had his eye in. Eventually. For a bit.

How do you describe the Harry Brook Experience, beyond a collection of gasps, sighs, and wows punctuated by the occasional FFS?

Has anyone been more at one with their surroundings on a day of Test cricket riddled with such brain rot? The kind that makes you think that, actually, maybe this is the worst format given others do not afford as much scope for this kind of nonsense.

All of 20 wickets fell on the opening day in Melbourne, and Brook stood tallest with an innings of 41 that might have kept this match alive for England and also left him ripe for criticism. On a day when his team-mates failed to survive, Brook chose to use what time he had to make surviving worthwhile.

The knock itself - a third score above 40 this series - was a kind of David Lynch masterpiece. Self-contained, confusing, maybe a bit rubbish, but maybe actually brilliant because of the world it was created in? Existing among a landscape of 10mm grass and 76.1 overs of nip and seam to chew up and spit out both teams for just 266 runs.

Boxing Day is a time for sitting, not moving along at breakneck speed. But Brook got up from his seat to walk out at the MCG in front of a record-breaking crowd of over 94,000, and chose to go with the rhythm of a scoreboard reading 8 for 3 at the start of the fifth over.

Upon delivery of his first ball from Mitchell Starc, he charged, attempting to smack the red off the Kookaburra bowled into a length. His final delivery was a studious block which Scott Boland's delivery snaked in to avoid, clattering the knee roll to leave England 66 for 5.

In between those contrasting strokes was vindication. The two other attempts at the initial shot saw boundaries: Michael Neser scythed wide of gully and Starc pumped into the stands over a straight extra cover. Neser and Boland were put off enough to show indecision about whether they wanted Alex Carey up to the stumps or not, despite Carey's sleekness up close at Adelaide Oval last week.

And for all the pearl clutching as Brook flipped a bouncer over his shoulder and thumped a length delivery from Neser across the line, there was method being applied all the way through.

You can start with the traditional bits if you'd like. No other England batter struck more than three singles, and Brook's 10 included multiple singles against all four of Australia's four quicks. Threatening boundaries spread the field, and he ticked over accordingly.

The home quicks had settled on that 5-7m length, just as England's had earlier in the piece. Australia's removal for 152, which kickstarted Friday's nonsensical festivities, came through consistent hammering full, with an average length of 6.89m ranking as the second-fullest an English collective has bowled in the Bazball era.

Josh Tongue, especially, found joy, with all five of his dismissals coming when pitched up (3-6m). The last Englishman to take as many from being so consistently "up there" was Stuart Broad back in 2015, with his 8 for 15 at Trent Bridge.

There was an absurdity at this point that, despite leading the series 3-0, Australia were now responsible for the two lowest "all out" totals across both sides, with their Perth innings of 132 bottom. And then Australia's better bowlers bowled better to bin England for 110 inside 30 overs by close.

If that does not vindicate Brook's manner, which contributed just over 37% of England's score, consider the paucity of the other batters. Like a single-figure top-order. Even Joe Root.

England's greatest got right behind the ball consistently. High elbow, playing late, appreciating following the ball when the ball nips around gets you in to trouble. He played it safe and pocketed a 15-ball duck.

Symmetry between this and day one of the first Test in Perth brings understanding of the practicalities and openness to damnation of Brook's approach.

A 19-wicket day one then saw the Test vice-captain strike 52 off 61 - alongside another Root duck, by the way - which set England up for a 40-run lead. They were not able to cash that in, folding spectacularly on day two.

The shoe is now on the other foot, with Australia resuming their second innings 46 ahead on day two. But Brook's runs feel weightier in this crapshoot.

The frustrating thing for Brook will be every moment of brilliance - this was not even the first time he has charged and struck Starc over extra cover this series - brings understandable yearning for more. Both in the moment, and for the future. But also dismay at the recent past. That attempted blaze off Starc in Brisbane and the botched reverse-sweep in Adelaide were key junctures of a live series that will live with Brook forever.

That is no bad thing. This stuff - regret - is good for players of Brook's talents; fuel to reach better levels and to prove people wrong. It was instructive that in conditions where Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have urged run-getting options, Brook and latterly Gus Atkinson were the only ones willing to take risks.

But there seems to be a referendum on what modern English Test batting should look like now that Bazball is circling the drain. And Brook feels right in the centre of it.

With 214 runs for the series, he is just five off joining Root and Zak Crawley as England's top run-scorers, which says a lot about the state of the series. All three approach batting differently - Crawley blasé, Root studied, Brook free-form - and yet are nestling at about the same place, bound by a collective failure of an ideology that was supposed to free their own ways and whims.

Whether it's shot selections, bowling plans or even trips to Noosa, the one thing vindicating it all is winning.

England have not done any of that on this tour. Given the state of play in Melbourne, that wait looks set to go on. Brook, of course, has one more say in the matter.