One of the great middle-order players of this generation" - Geoffrey Boycott's massive praise for star batter after ENG vs IND 2025 5th Test

Legendary England opener Geoffrey Boycott lavished praise on Harry Brook, earmarking him to be one of the greatest middle-order batters of this generation. Boycott reckons the Yorkshire batter is in the reckoning to become as great as the likes of Wally Hammond and Denis Compton.

The 26-year-old finished with a staggering 481 runs in the five-Test series against India, aggregating two hundreds. Brook agonizingly missed out on a third when he was dismissed for 99 in the first innings at Headingley.

Writing in his column for The Telegraph, the 84-year-old stated:

"I have believed for a long time that Harry Brook could be one of the great middle-order players of this generation. Players like him do not come along too often and he could end up in the same batsman bracket as Wally Hammond and Denis Compton, who are regarded by everybody who saw them as among England’s greatest."

Boycott also opined that no middle-order batter today can disrupt bowlers' lengths like Harry Brook.

"In this era, compared to everyone else around, he is above them all. I defy anybody to tell me another No 5 in world cricket, or middle-order batsman, who has his talent, his ability to take the game by the scruff of the neck and have bowlers running in, not knowing what to bowl."

The youngster hammered a counter-attacking 111 on Day 4 of the 5th Test at The Oval to swing the advantage massively towards England. It was his wicket that changed the game. The hosts were comfortably placed at 301/3 in pursuit of 374, but eventually fell short by six runs.

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"Don’t think he will be able to tonk Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood quite so easily" - Geoffrey Boycott

Harry Brook. (Image Credits: Getty)

With England set to tour Australia for the Ashes later this year, Boycott warned that Mitchell Starc can be the only bowler Brook can target. He hopes for the youngster to take a measured approach against Australia's much-vaunted pace attack.

"I don’t think he will be able to tonk Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood quite so easily. He will have a chance against Mitchell Starc because he bowls magic deliveries but also gives you a lot of four balls. I just hope Harry is going to be intelligent enough not to change his game, but just assess the situation and be a bit more careful. That is all he has to do. There will be times when Australia are bowling well and trying to butcher them will not be the smartest thing to do."

The 2025-26 Ashes begins on November 21 in Perth.

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Edited by Srinjoy Sanyal