Harry Brook eclipsed some of English cricket’s most prestigious names with his majestic triple century against Pakistan, but admitted his father’s family record was the one he really wanted.
Brook smashed a sensational 317 on day four of the first Test in Multan, powering the tourists to the fourth highest total in history – an outlandish 823 for seven declared.
The touring attack then set themselves up for a final victory push by reducing Pakistan to 152 for six by stumps, still 115 behind.
Until Brook, no Englishman had made a treble since Graham Gooch’s 333 against India in 1990 and, in doing so, the Yorkshireman bettered the best days of a host of illustrious names from the past and present, including John Edrich (310), Sir Alastair Cook (294), Denis Compton (278) and Ben Stokes (258).
Even his mentor turned team-mate Joe Root has never reached 300, despite making a record 35 hundreds and doubling up for the sixth time on Thursday with a career-best 262.
But the number Brook was keenest to cross off was 210, the score his father David Brook made for Burley Cricket Club against Woodhouse in a league game all the way back in 2001.
Brook first brought up that personal milestone in Wellington 18 months ago, falling for 186 after making his target public, and was more focused on ticking it off than closing in on Sir Len Hutton’s unrivalled 364.
“I knew about Gooch but I didn’t know about the other ones. I just wanted to get past my dad’s highest score,” he said with a satisfied smile.
“I’ve said that before and I was pretty happy when I got past his score to be honest. It’s not quite sunk in, really.
“I’m still absolutely knackered. I’m sure I will sleep well tonight and reflect on it later.
“I’ve never heard of a total like that before; me and Rooty just tried to cash in on what was a good pitch. It was a tiring day… I’m lost for words.”
Root, who has had an unforgettable week of his own having surpassed Cook as England’s leading Test run-scorer, put on an unprecedented 454 alongside Brook and suggested he might one day pass the baton on to the younger man.
“Records are there to be broken,” he said.
“If guys in the future are breaking records then England is in a good place and they’re scoring a lot of runs, so hopefully that is the case.
“Harry has got such a complete game. To see him go and get a massive score is awesome. I’m not surprised at all in him going on and doing something special like that, but I don’t think it’ll be the last time we see him with a monster score by his name.
“I knew how good he was going to be, it was just when he was going to figure it out. The pace he has matured into the player he is is probably the one thing which has probably shocked me.”
Pakistan’s Australian assistant coach Tim Nielsen admitted his side had been confounded by Brook’s ability to score at will all across the park.
“I’ve kind of been thinking about it for about three hours, I must say, probably 12 hours. You might need to give us a couple of days to come up with a solution,” he said.
“He’s just playing so well. He’s got such power… we almost got scared of bowling straight at times. He’s a 20-Test player and now to have scored a 300, it’s pretty storied company.”
England resume needing just four more wickets to complete a resounding win that would have been unthinkable when Pakistan posted a first-innings score of 556 in 149 overs.
That number may even fall to three wickets given uncertainty over the fitness of Abrar Ahmed, who spent time in hospital on Thursday after taking ill.