Bairstow to keep wickets against India
Cook checks in for England duty one last time
Jonny Bairstow will keep wicket for England in the fifth and final Test against India after recovering from a broken middle finger, the England and Wales Cricket Board said yesterday.
The 28-year-old, who sustained the injury in the Trent Bridge Test last month, played as a specialist batsman in England’s fourth Test victory at Southampton, with Jos Buttler standing in as his wicketkeeping replacement. After taking an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series, England have named an unchanged team for the match at The Oval, which begins today.
“We are very fortunate to be in a position where we have two quality keepers,” England captain Joe Root told a news conference. “More than anything, they both want us to win games of cricket. There have been no issues or problems in that department.”
All-rounder Moeen Ali will continue to bat at No. 3, where he was promoted ahead of Root in the fourth Test.
Alastair Cook, England’s all-time leading scorer, will play his final Test before he retires from international cricket.
The former captain will bring down the curtain on a 12-year international career by playing his 161st test and 159th in a row.
Life begins all over again for Cook next week and he is preparing himself for the period of “mourning” that all players endure once the “buzz” of Test cricket has gone forever.
Cook has reported for England duty for the last time after dropping his daughter off at school and, with another child on the way, family and the more mundane life as a county cricketer for Essex await after his final Test match against India.
Oval goodbyes do not always go to plan. Cook only has to walk the short distance from the England dressing room to the old pavilion for a reminder. There, the Donald Bradman doors are named as a tribute to the game’s greatest batsman, but also offer lasting memorial to the flattest of all farewells.
It is said Bradman had a tear in his eye as he walked out to bat in 1948, only to be bowled second ball for nought by Eric Hollies and even Cook’s famed mental strength and razor-eyed focus might slip if he allows the emotion of the occasion to get to him.
“It’s been a bit surreal. One of my friends rang me to check I was still alive because everyone was talking as if I had died,” he said. “It will be slightly strange. But I’ll just try to enjoy the week and get some runs. I will prepare as per usual. We have still got a game to win for England so I want to approach it the same way as other games, but obviously knowing it will be my last.”
Cook signed a three-year deal with Essex on Monday and wants to stay in the game longer term. “I have thrown everything into trying to score as many runs as I can and I’ll worry about the rest after and that is what I am going to do. I will always have that luxury of knowing the farm is there, and that takes the pressure off me,” he said.
“There is going to be a transition, a period, of course there is.”