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| Alastair Cook back in the runs as England dominate against India | Alastair Cook back in the runs as England dominate against India |
| (25 days later) | |
| A climbing wall has been installed at the Rose Bowl, alongside the Shane Warne stand: they want to make the Test attractive to young families and all day there were kids scrambling and scrabbling their way to the top. It might just have served as a reminder, for those who needed it, of the tribulations of Alastair Cook. | |
| For a year now he has been not so much clambering up such a wall as driven up it by the cruelties of the game. He almost made it to the top, the summit of his first Test century in more than a year tantalisingly close when, deep into the final session of the first day of the third Test against India, he attempted to paddle-pull (if that is the right expression) a legside delivery from the left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and managed only the thinnest edge down the leg side. | For a year now he has been not so much clambering up such a wall as driven up it by the cruelties of the game. He almost made it to the top, the summit of his first Test century in more than a year tantalisingly close when, deep into the final session of the first day of the third Test against India, he attempted to paddle-pull (if that is the right expression) a legside delivery from the left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and managed only the thinnest edge down the leg side. |
| Cook tried to stand there inscrutably as India celebrated but his instinctive demeanour had given himself away and Marais Erasmus, after a hitch of the trousers (priorities, of course), raised his finger. | Cook tried to stand there inscrutably as India celebrated but his instinctive demeanour had given himself away and Marais Erasmus, after a hitch of the trousers (priorities, of course), raised his finger. |
| Cook had made 95, so near yet so far in terms of the elusive century but on the path to redemption that had been threatening this past fortnight. Yet as Cook trudged off, he will have been heartened in his disappointment; for all round the ground the crowd stood and cheered him back to the dressing room, just as they had greeted his half-century shortly after lunch with similar rapture and had willed him onwards thereafter. | Cook had made 95, so near yet so far in terms of the elusive century but on the path to redemption that had been threatening this past fortnight. Yet as Cook trudged off, he will have been heartened in his disappointment; for all round the ground the crowd stood and cheered him back to the dressing room, just as they had greeted his half-century shortly after lunch with similar rapture and had willed him onwards thereafter. |
| At Lord’s and now down in Hampshire the goodwill many times outweighs the opprobrium and no one could fail to draw strength from that. By no means have things been turned round completely in terms of his batting but it is a start. | At Lord’s and now down in Hampshire the goodwill many times outweighs the opprobrium and no one could fail to draw strength from that. By no means have things been turned round completely in terms of his batting but it is a start. |
| “To thine own self be true”: the England captain was a music scholar but may still be familiar with Hamlet and the speech of Polonius in the first act. Certainly it is a precept that has characterised his troubled times, for the cataracts of advice pouring down, well-meaning most of it and much of it sound, have never once deviated him from his primary course of hard work and more hard work. | “To thine own self be true”: the England captain was a music scholar but may still be familiar with Hamlet and the speech of Polonius in the first act. Certainly it is a precept that has characterised his troubled times, for the cataracts of advice pouring down, well-meaning most of it and much of it sound, have never once deviated him from his primary course of hard work and more hard work. |
| There was extra practice during the week, alone save for the coach throwing him balls, and he was at the ground and in the nets a couple of hours before the start. Behind it all he knows he has a method that has worked for more than a century of Test matches, bringing him success unprecedented by an England batsman. | There was extra practice during the week, alone save for the coach throwing him balls, and he was at the ground and in the nets a couple of hours before the start. Behind it all he knows he has a method that has worked for more than a century of Test matches, bringing him success unprecedented by an England batsman. |
| Here there was only tinkering, as he stood out of his crease to the Indian seamers, the better to propel his momentum forward while going some way to negating the dangerous swing of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Gradually the rhythm returned to his batting. | Here there was only tinkering, as he stood out of his crease to the Indian seamers, the better to propel his momentum forward while going some way to negating the dangerous swing of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Gradually the rhythm returned to his batting. |
| He left the ball well, waited – at one point through almost 30 overs – for the delivery that wavered in line or length and then, when inevitably it arrived, cut or pulled his boundaries. It was simple, uncomplicated batting. | He left the ball well, waited – at one point through almost 30 overs – for the delivery that wavered in line or length and then, when inevitably it arrived, cut or pulled his boundaries. It was simple, uncomplicated batting. |
| Yet on small things can fortunes change. Cook had made 15 when the debutant paceman Pankaj Singh, playing instead of the incapacitated hero of Lord’s, Ishant Sharma, went round the wicket and sent one on a length but wide of off stump. Cook, not properly settled, jabbed at it and the edge flew low to the left of Jadeja at third slip, who appeared to have taken the catch only for it to tumble out. | Yet on small things can fortunes change. Cook had made 15 when the debutant paceman Pankaj Singh, playing instead of the incapacitated hero of Lord’s, Ishant Sharma, went round the wicket and sent one on a length but wide of off stump. Cook, not properly settled, jabbed at it and the edge flew low to the left of Jadeja at third slip, who appeared to have taken the catch only for it to tumble out. |
| Few innings would be chanceless over the course of five hours but this had a resonance beyond just a missed chance. In the course of his innings Cook began once more to climb a different ladder as well. A cover drive for three runs took him to a career total of 8,184 runs, and so beyond that of Kevin Pietersen. Later he was to eclipse David Gower’s 8,232, so that only Alec Stewart and then Graham Gooch stand above him now. | Few innings would be chanceless over the course of five hours but this had a resonance beyond just a missed chance. In the course of his innings Cook began once more to climb a different ladder as well. A cover drive for three runs took him to a career total of 8,184 runs, and so beyond that of Kevin Pietersen. Later he was to eclipse David Gower’s 8,232, so that only Alec Stewart and then Graham Gooch stand above him now. |
| For most of the while Cook was reacquainting himself with his batting he had for company Gary Ballance, whose career, still in its infancy, has already been remarkable. The focus was always going to be on Cook but unobtrusively, though with massive efficiency, Ballance reinforced his status by making his third century in five Test matches. In the process he shared a second-wicket stand of 158 with Cook that put England in the driving seat of this third Test. | For most of the while Cook was reacquainting himself with his batting he had for company Gary Ballance, whose career, still in its infancy, has already been remarkable. The focus was always going to be on Cook but unobtrusively, though with massive efficiency, Ballance reinforced his status by making his third century in five Test matches. In the process he shared a second-wicket stand of 158 with Cook that put England in the driving seat of this third Test. |
| It was an innings chanceless and constructed almost to a template – accumulation first then acceleration so that his 50 from 107 balls, with five fours, was followed by a second 50 from 82 with 10 fours – and on any other day it deserved to be more than a footnote. Ballance will resume on 104, with Ian Bell on 16, although the latter, as much in need of runs as has been Cook, was fortunate to survive an excruciating start in which, to his 16th scoreless delivery, he ought to have been lbw to Pankaj and the second new ball had Rod Tucker been on his game. A review would have had him bang to rights on all criteria. England closed on 247 for two. | It was an innings chanceless and constructed almost to a template – accumulation first then acceleration so that his 50 from 107 balls, with five fours, was followed by a second 50 from 82 with 10 fours – and on any other day it deserved to be more than a footnote. Ballance will resume on 104, with Ian Bell on 16, although the latter, as much in need of runs as has been Cook, was fortunate to survive an excruciating start in which, to his 16th scoreless delivery, he ought to have been lbw to Pankaj and the second new ball had Rod Tucker been on his game. A review would have had him bang to rights on all criteria. England closed on 247 for two. |
| Earlier Cook and Sam Robson had added 55 for the first wicket, their best start together, before Robson, having played several precise cover drives, nibbled away from his body so that this time Jadeja was able to hold the catch. | Earlier Cook and Sam Robson had added 55 for the first wicket, their best start together, before Robson, having played several precise cover drives, nibbled away from his body so that this time Jadeja was able to hold the catch. |
| He made a hundred at Headingley in his second Test but otherwise a vulnerability outside off stump has been largely exposed. | He made a hundred at Headingley in his second Test but otherwise a vulnerability outside off stump has been largely exposed. |
| England went into the match making three changes from the side that lost the second Test at Lord’s, with Matt Prior’s replacement, Jos Buttler, receiving his cap from Bruce French and Chris Jordan and Chris Woakes returning after varying degrees of absence in place of Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett. | England went into the match making three changes from the side that lost the second Test at Lord’s, with Matt Prior’s replacement, Jos Buttler, receiving his cap from Bruce French and Chris Jordan and Chris Woakes returning after varying degrees of absence in place of Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett. |