Harry Brook scores his third Test century to help England to a 50-run lead over Pakistan

Harry Brook might have been celebrating a half-century for his local club, Bradford and Bingley.

Shortly before tea on the second day of this third Test, he forced Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed to the cover fence, carefully took off his helmet, raised both arms and accepted Ben Foakes’ hug. It was as unshowy as his batting had been unforgettable.

This was his third century in his first full series as a Test player, and probably his best — carved from the adversity of 145 for five after he had been complicit in the run-out of Ben Stokes.

Other 23-year-olds might have shrivelled up, but clearly they breed them tough in West Yorkshire. By the time he was trapped by seamer Mohammad Wasim for 111, he and Foakes, who made 64, had put on a game-changing 117.

Mark Wood then crashed 35 off 41 balls, and Ollie Robinson 29 off 20, as England reached 354 — a useful first-innings lead of 50. By the close, Pakistan’s openers knocked off 21, but England’s hopes of an unprecedented whitewash remained alive.

In the City of Lights, however, it was the performance of Brook that outshone all else.

Yorkshire batsmanship has run through England’s Test history like a spinal cord — from Herbert Sutcliffe to Len Hutton, from Geoff Boycott to Joe Root. You anoint a new member of this lineage at your peril, but Brook has made such a good start to his Test career, and appears to have all the ingredients, that it will be a surprise if his progress doesn’t continue in the same direction. ‘I said to one of my mates before I came out here that I would love to get two hundreds, so to go one better is a nice feeling,’ he said.

With Jonny Bairstow to return from a broken leg next year — though probably not in time for February’s two-Test series in New Zealand — there will be a scramble for the middle order.

‘Most selectors say they like headaches, hopefully I’ve caused a very big migraine,’ said Brook.

His hundreds at Rawalpindi and Multan told us what we already knew from his exploits in white-ball cricket — not least during the T20 series here in the autumn, when he averaged 79 with a strike-rate of 163. It was why, earlier in this trip, England’s assistant coach Paul Collingwood called him a ‘powerful Joe Root’.

But the second morning in Karachi called for something extra. Resuming on seven for one, England had reached 58 without further loss when Nauman Ali trapped Ben Duckett lbw on the back foot for 26, then had Root caught at slip first ball.

Amid all the excitement over Brook, Root’s runs have fallen away after a stellar summer. Since, he has made 171 at 19. It’s to England’s credit that they keep winning without major contribution from the man who once doubled up as their security blanket.

Brook calmly steered the hat-trick ball to deep point for a single, but when Ollie Pope was bowled for a skilful 51 by an unplayable delivery from Abrar, it was 98 for four.

Stokes helped Brook restore some order by lunch, taken at 140 for four, only to undo it from the 11th ball after the break. Brook had clipped Wasim off his legs, but strolled the second as Stokes spotted the chance for a third.

Brook wasn’t interested and, when Azhar Ali hurled the ball to Wasim, standing over the stumps at the non-striker’s end, he and Stokes were both stranded at the other. Crucially, Brook had touched his bat down a fraction before Stokes crossed the crease, so it was the captain — after a forceful 26 — who had to go.

Perhaps just as crucially, Stokes controlled his irritation as he walked off, turned round and gave Brook the thumbs-up — the act of a captain who understands the power of gestures.

‘It was my fault,’ said Brook. ‘I’ll take the blame. There probably was three, but I was slightly lazy with my running. I was tempted to leave my bat out and let him take it, but instincts took over.

‘It makes you concentrate more when you’ve been involved in a run-out. I was involved in Ollie Pope’s last week and I went on to get a hundred there, so maybe I should start something up.’

Before this game, Stokes’ penalty for losing a six-hitting contest to coach Brendon McCullum was to serve dinner to Brook, who had won the earlier competition between two teams from the North and the South.

‘I’ll have to serve him his dinner tonight,’ joked Brook, ‘and tuck his little towel in for him as well.’

After ticking off David Gower’s England-record 449 runs in a Test series in Pakistan, Brook joined George Headley, Arthur Morris, Conrad Hunte, Sunil Gavaskar and Mohammad Azharuddin as the only players to score three hundreds in their first four Tests.

His stand with Foakes was ended by a nip-backer from Wasim, before Rehan Ahmed’s first Test innings lasted just three balls — caught at midwicket.

But the tail wagged, and England assumed control once more, scoring at 4.32 an over off Abrar, who added four wickets to the 11 he took at Multan but without the same menace.

Thanks to Brook, England have a chance of winning the final Test of a year they will never forget