Test cricket and the IPL: Goal-setting Harry Brook eyes a fresh challenge

NICK HOWSON: The PCA men's young player of the year has matched his own expectations in 2021 but won't be resting on his laurels

Having smashed all of his pre-season goals in 2021, Harry Brook has set himself another set of bold targets for the coming years.

Playing Test cricket for England and winning an Indian Premier League contract are among the 22-year-old's wishes and wants.

Brook sets himself objectives ahead of every campaign but this is the first season in which he has matched them. The right-hander struck 1,223 runs for Yorkshire in the LV=Insurance County Championship and T20 Blast to help his side go deep in both competitions.

An added bonus came in the form of a men's Hundred contract with Headingley-based Northern Superchargers, where he struck 189 runs in five innings. His effort won him the cinch PCA men's young player of the year award, following in the footsteps of Ollie Pope, Tom Banton and Zak Crawley.

"I wrote down a few aims for the year and the number of runs I wanted to get in different formats and I got all of them," he gleamed.

"I do it every season really. This is the first year I've hit those goals so it's nice."

Registering more first-class runs is among Brook's targets in 2022 but his long-term aspirations are focused around the longest format and franchise competition.

"Test cricket is still the pinnacle for me so I definitely want to play in as many competitions as possible," he added. "The IPL on at the minute is so good, the standard is ridiculous and when they get crowds back to full (capacity) it looks unbelievable so I'd like to play in that and for England as well."

This winter promises to be a busy one for the Keighley-native. He hopes to be part of the Lions team which travels to Australia in support of the Ashes squad while a Big Bash League contract may also be in the offing.

"I don't really want to be at Headingley in the rain and cold so hopefully I'll be away," he joked.

Ben Stokes and Kevin Pietersen were among those impressed by Brook's displays during The Hundred, with his 62 from 31 deliveries against Welsh Fire catching the eye.

"It's pretty nice," he said of the praise. "They're big dogs, aren't they? So for them to be saying stuff like that, rating me is really good. 

"Hopefully I can keep on doing it for years to come. I'm a level-headed person so I don't let that kind of stuff get to me but it is nice for people to say nice things."

Harry Brook was speaking following the 52nd cinch PCA Awards, the biggest awards ceremony in English cricket.

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