LISA STHALEKAR: Harry Brook’s approach this Ashes of swinging the bat looks like it’s here to stayLisa SthalekarThe NightlyTue, 6 January 2026 3:23PMCommentsComments
With Usman Khawaja confirming his retirement after this SCG Test and Steve Smith in the twilight of his career, the Australian team are going to have to look at the next generation.
And for lovers of the purest form of cricket, get ready for a shake up.
We have already seen a change in approach from the Australians at the top, when they stumbled upon the swashbuckling Travis Head.
He has exceeded everyone’s expectations, by being the leading run scorer of the series with 600 runs and doing it in his own way whilst compiling an impressive average of 66.
Apart from Joe Root, Alex Carey, Harry Brook and Steve Smith, the majority of the batters from both sides are averaging in the 20s, with Head a true outlier.
Even amongst that list of players above, you could only say that Root, is probably the last classical batter, even though we have seen him at times use a reverse scoop.
Smith has his own unique way of scoring runs and there was a time, that past players had real concerns with his hands, exaggerated movements and how open he was at the crease. Though 10,000 odd runs later, he is celebrated for being different.
England’s Brook typifies this approach which aims try to disrupt what the bowler is trying to do and spread the field even if it has greats of the game scratching their heads.
Whilst the attacking approach of both English and Australian batters has riled past players who have labelled most dismissals as dumb, worst ever, bizarre, embarrassing and ugly, you get a sense that we are going to see more of the same in the next generation.
Will Pucovski, former Test player and a panel member on Channel Seven’s cricket show The Spin made some alarming observations on shield cricket.
Pucovski was quite scathing about the pitches that have been produced throughout the Ashes series, saying some were “diabolical” and a blight on shield cricket.
He went on to say that he felt sorry for the young Australian batters in shield cricket that are facing these kind of conditions as they try to develop their game to the next level.
That is why you are seeing a different approach from young batters.
If the next generation in shield cricket tries to grit out and play the perfect game of survival you almost become a sitting duck to balls that are just seaming around.
With the shield season on a break for the Big Bash League, if you were to look at the top 10 batters and what they are averaging, there are only two players that averaging above 50, Matthew Renshaw (70.83) and Marnus Labuschagne (67) with most hovering between 32 to 45.
Even Test opener Jake Weatherald is averaging 37.
The approach for this next generation is go even harder, trying to disrupt the bowler from banging the ball in on a perfect line and length offering easy catches behind the wicket.
England’s Brook typifies this approach which aims try to disrupt what the bowler is trying to do and spread the field even if it has greats of the game scratching their heads.
That is what we have seen and at times this series it certainly doesn’t look pretty or fall into the category of classical Test match cricket.
But it seems to be the way of the future and something that fans and past players need to probably get used to seeing.
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