JONNY Bairstow has hailed Harry Brook, describing the teenage batsman as “special”, but has warned against too much hype too soon.

Bairstow says Yorkshire “are lucky to have someone like Harry” after watching the 19-year-old score a superb 124 in the second innings of the county’s three-day Championship win over Essex at Chelmsford at the weekend.

“Hopefully we’ve got a couple more coming through too,” said the England star.

“Harry has a huge amount of talent, and he’s a very gifted player.

“The way he came down the wicket and played over mid-off and through the covers, that’s special, that’s proper cricket shots.

“But coming straight out of school is never going to be easy for him, whether he bats at the top of the order or whether he goes down and bats at five.

“Personally, I think he’s probably more suited to batting a little bit further down the order and giving himself a chance and giving himself an opportunity to come in potentially against the slightly older ball, because that’s how he’s going to learn.”

Brook, from Burley-in-Wharfedale, went to Sedbergh School, starred in Yorkshire’s second team and has captained England under-19s this winter.

Prior to breaking through, Bairstow starred in schools’ cricket for St Peter’s in York, although he did not play age-group cricket for England.

“Harry’s straight out of school, straight out of schoolboy cricket, playing under-19s. And that’s not easy,” said Bairstow.

“Yes, he’s had a brilliant winter and there’s such high hopes for him, but you could also look at it the other way and say ‘Let’s keep his confidence as high as we can’ because all of a sudden he comes in and gets a couple of good balls against experienced pros.

“It’s happened to myself, it’s happened to Joe (Root), it’s happened to everyone.

“You feel your confidence going, and that’s the last thing we want to do to someone who can be a very good player.”

Bairstow and Brook will line up alongside each other for the second Championship match against Surrey at the Oval from Friday, when Yorkshire will bid for their third win from five fixtures this summer.

Bairstow made his first appearance of the English summer at Chelmsford following a month’s break after winter tours to Australia and New Zealand, scoring 50 in the second innings.

He says he is now refreshed and ready to go again.

“People will say ‘Why did you need a break?’” he added.

“Well, you can speak to them about being away from home for 160 nights and 30 flights and all the other pressures that come with playing international cricket, and I’m sure they will give you an answer they don’t know anything about.

“It’s interesting when you come back and hear people saying ‘You should be straight back in’ because it was a gruelling trip no matter which way you look at it. But it’s something you’ve got to learn from.

“To have this period of time off is something that refreshes you and makes you excited about coming back to play, so it’s not just another day of doing your job.

“As soon as you start doing that, mentally you’re not quite in it and you go half-hearted physically. You don't want to be doing that as a cricketer.”