Long before the build-up to this Ashes series became a plume of hot air, Josh Hazlewood made a telling observation. Perhaps he was merely being diplomatic when describing England's batting line-up as "unbelievable", but his identification of a key threat was still notable: "A fresh face like Harry Brook might find it easier [than others]," he said. "He'll be a tough challenge."
Brook arrives in Australia with a phenomenal record. After 30 Tests, he is averaging 57.55 while scoring at a strike rate of 87.52; he did not score a hundred in his only Ashes series, two years ago, but still left a mark with four rapid fifties. He also holds the unusual distinction of having a far stronger record away than at home: seven of his ten centuries have come overseas.
That fact comes with a significant caveat: three years into his Test career, Brook has still only played in three countries. It is a quirk of circumstance: England toured Pakistan and New Zealand in 2022-23, and then again in 2024-25. Brook pulled out of their tour to India in 2023-24 on compassionate leave.
But it means that he is yet to play a Test in either of the two countries generally seen as the most challenging for English batters. As a result, his performance this winter will be scrutinised even more closely than usual: a successful series would confirm his status among the world's elite Test batters; anything less will be held against him.
This is Brook's first away Ashes series but his fourth trip to Australia. They have been a mixed bag: as a 19-year-old he scored 1001 runs in grade cricket for the University of New South Wales; three years later he had a "horrendous" (his word) Big Bash season; the following winter, he was an ever-present as England won the 2022 T20 World Cup, but his top score was 20.
His time in the Big Bash was a rare setback in his career. He arrived late due to England Lions commitments, missed two games having had "close contact" under Covid regulations, and left early to make his international debut in the Caribbean, having joined a long list of Hobart Hurricanes overseas players to struggle in purple.
"Brooky was fresh onto the scene: he definitely didn't know his game as well as he does now," recalls Ben McDermott, who played alongside him at Hurricanes. "It won't have any bearing on the Ashes at all. He's come a long way since, and has elevated his game to be one of the best in your country."
His quiet campaign at the T20 World Cup in late 2022 came immediately after his breakthrough white-ball tour to Pakistan, and left him with a grim T20 record in Australia: 113 runs at 8.07 in 14 innings. "I just kept finding the fielders out on the boundary," he later reflected." The grounds are so big out there. I've been to Australia twice now and have struggled."
Brook is not the type to dwell on his failures: "I'm just trying to erase that from the memory and crack on: work hard, train hard, and see where I land," he said last month. "I see white-ball and red-ball [cricket] as completely different sports, if I'm being honest. I'm going out there [to Australia] with a clear mind."
If there is anything to note from Brook's previous tours, it is that his struggles were not against pace and bounce: in fact, nine of his 14 dismissals were to spin. His head-to-head against Nathan Lyon - cut short due to Lyon's injury in 2023, after Brook's dismissals against him in both innings at Edgbaston - looms as a compelling match-up in this series.
Brook's other big challenge in Australia will come against the short ball, which accounted for him three times in the 2023 Ashes. He has been among the world's most dominant players of short-pitched bowling since his Test debut three years ago, but attacks it compulsively; his idiosyncratic front-foot pulls will be tested on bouncy surfaces - particularly in the first Test at Optus Stadium in Perth.
"Australia will test him," predicts Michael Vaughan, whose 633-run series in 2002-03 proved that experience is not a prerequisite for success. "The boundaries are a bit bigger, and they'll certainly challenge him with the short ball.
"But, like most players in Australia, if you can overcome your first initial test - which will be in Perth, a bouncy wicket and a big boundary - and start well, you could quite easily see Harry have one of those wonderful series: Chris Broad in the '80s [1986-87], Alastair Cook in 2010-11; I scraped a few in 2002-03. You get on a roll in Australia and you find so much confidence, because the pitches are pure and it's a great place to bat."
Conditions have changed in Australia in recent years with ball dominating bat, but No. 5 - Brook's spot - has become the best position to bat in: since the start of the 2021-22 Ashes, Travis Head is the leading run-scorer in Australia's home Tests, and Brook will aim to emulate his counterattacking style regardless of how England's top order fare.
He has provided countless examples already, none more compelling than in Wellington last year when he blazed 123 off 115 balls after walking in at 26 for 3. On the same tour, he looked on admiringly in England's team room as Rishabh Pant tried to hit his way out of trouble in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, running down the pitch to slap his first ball for four in Adelaide.
Brook's approach on the field and his relaxed persona off it combine to give the impression of nonchalance, but he insists that could not be further from the truth. "It's not come lightly," he told the Times recently. "I've absolutely worked my arse off for it, and I'm going to keep on doing that. The way I sound blasé is because I want to try to keep things as simple as possible."
He may not have scored a hundred in his first Ashes series, but as Hazlewood will attest, Brook left his mark on Australia's attack two years ago, playing key hands in England's wins at Headingley and The Oval. He has passed every test that he has faced so far in his international career; now, it is time for his biggest one yet.