Michael Atherton: "Undroppable" Harry Brook creating selection headaches ahead of Ashes

Brook has scored 623 runs at a strike rate of 96.88 in just eight Test innings since coming into the side in place of an injured Jonny Bairstow

Michael Atherton believes England's selectors will have a "real problem" ahead of the Ashes following the rapid rise of Harry Brook.

The Yorkshire batter made a quiet Test debut against South Africa last September, scoring 12 runs, before announcing himself on the international red-ball stage with three centuries in three matches in Pakistan.

He backed up those performances with back-to-back half-centuries against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui and has now scored 623 runs at a strike rate of 96.88 in just eight Test innings.

Brook, whom Atherton labelled "undroppable", earned his opportunity in the Test side after Jonny Bairstow suffered a broken leg while playing golf at the back-end of the summer.

Head coach Brendon McCullum, however, is in "no doubt" that Bairstow, who scored 1,061 runs at 66.31 in 2022, will come straight back into the side when he returns to fitness, which presents England with a selection dilemma.

^{Brook came into the side after Jonny Bairstow suffered a broken leg [Gareth Copley/Getty Images]}

"It's going to be a real problem for selectors when everybody's fit and available," Atherton told Sky Sports. "Jonny Bairstow is back to doing some light training; when he'll be ready for selection, who knows?

"But given the summer he had last year, how do you fit him into the team given how Harry Brook has gone in Bairstow's absence? Brook is undroppable really.

"He's had an incredible start to his Test career and he's one of the best young players in the world so he has to play [in the Ashes].

"The bowling will take care of itself a little bit more because they've got five Tests against Australia in the best part of two months. All the fast bowlers are not going to play in every one of those games. It's inconceivable that [James] Anderson could play five Test matches in eight weeks, it's probably the same for [Stuart] Broad and for the fast bowlers like [Jofra] Archer and [Mark] Wood.

"It's going to be less of a problem for the bowling, you want as many bowlers as possible to have fit and ready for selection. But the batting, unless there's an injury between now and then, is more problematic."