The Athletic has launched a Cricket WhatsApp Channel. Click here to join.The last time Harry Brook batted in a Test for England his performance was so chaotic, frenetic and, frankly, irresponsible that New Zealand’s players laughed at him.“What are they doing?” said an incredulous voice in New Zealand’s bemused huddle after Brook had slogged his way to 21 off nine balls in the final Test at Trent Bridge before holing out in an England display that degenerated, post-Ben Stokes’ sudden retirement, into a parody of Test cricket.Brook’s cameo was the worst of it. Confirmation, if any were needed, of the presumed immaturity and recklessness that made him the poster boy for those who had long become disillusioned and despairing at the worst excesses of England’s Bazball style.It did not matter that Brook was averaging in excess of the 50 runs per innings mark that, over a more than long enough sample size of 38 Tests, put him in the company of the truly great Test match batters. He was just, as Stokes called him ahead of his debut, “a bit dumb”.But maybe that low point and the unexpected departure of Stokes and the return of Joe Root as Test captain ahead of the white-ball skipper has proved a turning point for one of the most gifted but infuriating batters of his generation.England, perhaps, saw a new Brook at Headingley during the thrashing of Pakistan in the first Test, one who will retain his positive and imaginative style but who will also be more selective in his shot selection and not give it all away all too often by going just a little too far.Harry Brook was excellent at Headingley (Stu Forster/Getty Images)It must be remembered that Brook should have been dismissed for just one at the start of his 91 off 93 balls when he played an indiscriminate dab at Khurram Shahzad and should have been caught at slip by stand-in Pakistan captain Salman Agha.But with that slice of luck came a sudden outburst of responsibility from Brook, who then scored at almost a run a ball but did so sensibly and without taking any undue risks.Only when he got himself in a contorted position against the spin of Ali Usman and was somehow bowled when trying to speed his way to his first Test century on his home ground before the close of the second day did Brook err.The close of that second day — admittedly of what became an all too short and one-sided Test because of Pakistan’s alarming frailties — brought a fascinating debate on the BBC’s Test Match Special podcast. Veteran commentator and broadcaster Jonathan Agnew had become frustrated by the looseness of Bazball long before it disintegrated in Australia last winter, but now he was enthused by the performance of Brook, saying: “That’s how he should bat.”But injured England fast bowler Mark Wood, making a guest commentary appearance, pointed out, in the polite manner of one of the nicest men in cricket, that Brook must have been doing something right before now to average 53.63 with an incredible strike-rate of 87.08. He has hit 10 Test centuries including a triple hundred against these same Pakistan opponents in Multan two years ago.