Harry Brook is using BASEBALL to add even more power to his game after training with MLB giants

Just when it seemed bowlers had suffered enough, Harry Brook has revealed plans to add even more power to his game after an eye-opening training session with Major League Baseball giants St Louis Cardinals.

Brook stopped over in Florida on his way home from England’s recent Test series in New Zealand, and was staggered by both the work ethic of the baseball players and their physical prowess.

And while Brook – tipped to become a ‘global superstar’ by England Test captain Ben Stokes after a dreamy first winter as an international cricketer – claims his attempts to hit a home run were thwarted by a stiff breeze, he left America keen to prove that the leap from baseball to Bazball is more than linguistic.

‘The lads there were stacked,’ says Brook, an MLB ambassador. ‘They were massive, and they were saying all the power comes from the legs.

‘If I was going to practise anything from there, it would be getting a stronger base and using my legs a bit more for power when I’m trying to hit in cricket.’

Harry Brook has revealed plans to add even more power to his game after an eye-opening training session with Major League Baseball giants St Louis Cardinals 

If Jonny Bairstow was Bazball’s first poster boy, until he broke his leg playing golf, Brook – his replacement – has been the second, scoring 809 runs in 10 Test innings, with 120 alone coming in sixes 

It’s not as if he has struggled to put bat to ball during the past few months, in which he has won a World Cup, scored four centuries in five Tests, and picked up over £1.3m at the IPL auction.

If Jonny Bairstow was Bazball’s first poster boy, until he broke his leg playing golf, Brook – his replacement – has been the second, scoring 809 runs in 10 Test innings, with 120 alone coming in sixes.

Then there’s his strike-rate of almost 99. Since his Test debut against South Africa at The Oval last September, no one in world cricket (with a minimum of 100 runs) has scored more rapidly. His explanation says everything about England’s transformation.

‘We’re scoring at a quick rate, but I don’t feel like I’m going to get out,’ he says. ‘I feel like I’ve been pumped up with so much confidence I can do anything. When we’re out there, we feel superhuman.’

His battle with Australia’s bowlers this summer could decide the Ashes. But Brook – whose temperament is as unflappable as his batting is incandescent – is not about to get ahead of himself.

First up, starting later this month, is a stint at the IPL with Sunrisers Hyderabad, whose coaching staff include West Indies legend Brian Lara. And, in his understated way, Brook means business.

‘I’m looking forward to it,’ he says. ‘There are a lot of good players there, and hopefully I get some opportunities to express how I’m playing at the minute, and show the world I’m capable of scoring runs anywhere.’

Brook stopped over in Florida on his way home from England’s recent Test series in New Zealand 

He was staggered by both the work ethic of the baseball players and their physical prowess

While Brook claims his attempts to hit a home run were thwarted by a stiff breeze, he left America keen to prove that the leap from baseball to Bazball is more than linguistic

Brook, you suspect, would have flourished in any era and any format. But the backing of Stokes and Brendon McCullum has tipped him into a different category. If he makes it in India, he may need to deploy all his Yorkshire earthiness to keep his feet on the ground.

What of the comparisons with Pietersen, the last England batter to cause such a stir? Brook was six years old when Pietersen helped Michael Vaughan’s side regain the Ashes at The Oval in 2005 after 16 years of misery, but something lodged in his mind.

‘I used to love watching him bat when I was younger,’ he says. ‘Obviously he played such an entertaining brand of cricket: he always looked to take the attack to the bowlers and put them under pressure.

‘In that aspect, I’m quite similar, but technically he’s very different. He was very wide-stanced. I’m fairly wide, but he’s a lot taller than me. He has a longer reach, so can hit it a lot further.’

For now, it’s a good job Brook has not allowed the plaudits to go to his head. ‘It’s been good year,’ he says. ‘I never thought I’d be saying I was a World Cup winner, or have four Test hundreds. I’m very lucky to have come into this Test side, the way we’re trying to play.’

‘The lads there were stacked,’ says Brook, an MLB ambassador. ‘They were massive, and they were saying all the power comes from the legs

Has Test cricket ever felt easy? ‘Definitely not. I never like saying any cricket’s easy. It can soon bite you in the arse if you say something like that.’

And while he nominates the T20 World Cup success as his highlight so far, he hopes events this summer will come into contention.

‘If we get a win in the Ashes, that could be a close contender,’ he says. ‘There’s no better format at the minute, and the way we’re playing the game, we’re bringing in more crowds. It’s going to be a great summer of cricket.’

St. Louis Cardinals will play Chicago Cubs in the MLB World Tour: London Series 2023 on June 24 – 25 at London Stadium. 

Tickets are available now at ticketmaster.co.uk/mlb