Brook underlines status as world's best all-format batter in remarkable defeat

Once the disappointment of defeat dissipates, Harry Brook can reflect on another starring role with the bat which underlines his status as the world's best all-format batter, says Stephan Shemilt. Harry Brook hit the fastest 200 in the history of one-day internationals Just under a year ago, Harry Brook was left wondering if he would be sacked as England white-ball captain and what damage he had done to his international career. What a turnaround in 12 months. From whacked in Wellington to the run-fest in Rawalpindi, Brook is undeniably England's most important cricketer and probably the best multi-format batter in the world. Brook's 202 in England's defeat against Sri Lanka was an astonishing display of stroke-making.

There can be no higher praise than to compare Brook's dismantling of the Sri Lankan attack to the sort of innings once played by South African genius AB de Villiers. It was the first double hundred scored by an Englishman in an ODI, passing England's previous best individual score of 182 by Ben Stokes against New Zealand in 2023. In reaching 200 in 114 balls, Brook registered the fastest double ton by anyone in an ODI, bettering the 117 deliveries of India's Shubman Gill against West Indies only last month. Brook has joined one of international cricket's most exclusive clubs. In completing the set