After Harry Brook smashed a sumptuous century against Sri Lanka in the first T20 this week, former captain Ben Stokes struggled to contain himself as he praised the white-ball captain and superstar in the making.
“I don’t even think the genius of KP could come close to what Harry Brook has talent-wise,” Stokes posted on X, adding, “You are an absolute freak, Harry. You’re mint to watch.”
That is high praise, coming from one of the greatest all-rounders of the modern era and from someone who knows the impact Kevin Pietersen, or KP, has had on English cricket.
Pietersen was the batter who started it all for England, at least this century. The bravado, the physique, the hair, the prickly temperament: they were all new and refreshing. Pietersen showed England that it was possible to intimidate the opposition with the bat – any format, any team.
The 2005 Ashes series was the defining moment of English cricket, and the first wall of the great Australian facade of the 21st century to fall.
While many would credit Andrew Flintoff and England's incredible pace attack for securing the famous 2-1 series win, it was Pietersen who actually ensured it with a superlative 150 in the final Test that saved the match.
Pietersen was the first truly great all-format England batter. He was the player of the series when England won the 2010 T20 World Cup – their first world title. And it was Pietersen who took it upon himself to create acceptance for the Indian Premier League in English cricket. Who can forget the toxicity directed at Pietersen for prioritising IPL and highlighting the benefits of franchise cricket for young England players?
It won’t be an exaggeration to say that Pietersen stumbled so others could walk.
After KP, England saw the meteoric rise of white-ball stars like Jos Buttler, Stokes, Eoin Morgan and many more. Not because of him, but certainly after him. The 2019 ODI World Cup triumph, followed by the 2022 T20 World Cup win, made England the preeminent force in world cricket.
Brook is possibly the next KP. Or, according to Stokes, he is a significant upgrade on Pietersen. On paper, Brook has the stats and the game to add weight to that claim. The middle-order batter averages more than 50 after 41 Tests, compared to Pietersen’s average of 47 after 104.
Their numbers are largely similar in ODIs and T20s. However, numbers alone don’t make a player.
Stokes talked about the talent of Brook being far greater than that of Pietersen. One can argue that Brook has a wider range of strokes and possibly looks better while batting. He is currently the only batter in the world to feature in the top 15 of the Test, ODI and T20 rankings. He is already a T20 World Cup winner, aged 27, with close to a decade of good cricket still ahead of him.
But Brook has not won a major tournament largely on his own as Pietersen did in the 2010 T20 World Cup or the 2005 Ashes. And KP will forever have the bragging rights of being the first player to challenge the might of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie at their peak and wrestle the Ashes from their hands.
No other batter can ever lay claim to such a feat, simply because there is no ‘all-time great’ bowling attack anywhere any more. Sure, there are many potent bowling groups in world cricket, but no one has the experience, aura or numbers of the great Australian Test attack of 2005 that was fresh from a historic Test series win in India.
Australia's quartet of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon are in a similar category, but they are not likely to be around together for long.
Brook could well end up with a better record than KP, have more world titles to his name and even win more Ashes series as a batter and captain, home and away. But Pietersen, currently guiding Brook as England's mentor, will always remain a trailblazer, a batter who took it upon himself to show how to bully the opposition, a player who made it cool to pursue personal game development through franchise cricket, a batter who helped secure a world title. And he will forever have the 2005 Ashes.
