Harry Brook Credits Yorkshire Pathway After Burley Start
harry brook traced his rise back to Burley-in-Wharfedale Cricket Club, saying his cricket career started there and that Yorkshire's pathway helped carry him to England. The 27-year-old was due to walk out at Lord's on Thursday for the opening Test of the summer against New Zealand.
Burley-in-Wharfedale Cricket Club
“It all started here for me,” Brook said in a video filmed at the club as part of Yorkshire's Chasing Glory campaign. He added: “Everybody starts somewhere, and this was the place where I started.”
He tied that beginning to the people around him, saying: “My dad, my two uncles and my grandad all played a hell of a lot of cricket here, and I think it’s important for Yorkshire to have clubs like this.” He also said: “To have a couple of players come out of this club and play cricket for Yorkshire, England Lions and England is such an amazing thing for the county and Burley-in-Wharfedale.”
Yorkshire Pathways
Brook said: “I managed to get into the Yorkshire Pathways, and I’ve gone on to do some good things so far.” He added: “But hopefully there’s a lot more to come in the future.” The same route has already taken him to a Test triple century in Multan, captaincy at a T20 World Cup and a ranking as the number one Test batter in the world.
Yorkshire says its pathway continues to set the benchmark for developing professional cricketers of the future. It says 16 of the current Yorkshire men's squad graduated through the pathway, along with five players in the women's squad.
Chasing Glory 2026-2036
The club's Chasing Glory campaign celebrates recreational clubs across the county and its Pathway and Academy programmes, while the new 10-year strategy, Chasing Glory 2026-2036, puts talent development at the center of its future vision. Yorkshire says almost 600 pathway fixtures will be staged across the county in 2026, with the club working with over 340 cricketers across 26 squads.
Brook made the strongest case for that system himself: “Without Yorkshire in my career so far, I wouldn’t have played for England. No chance.” He also said: “You can only create good cricketers by giving them opportunities in certain situations and games to go out there and try and perform to the best of their ability and show the rest of Yorkshire what they’re about.”
The Burley story is already bigger than one player. Yorkshire said Brook's talent was first spotted there as a toddler, and Matthew Revis is the other player from the club he referenced after both went through Burley, Sedbergh School and the Yorkshire system.
