Guard of honour was nice gesture

says, ‘Just enjoy it, it doesn’t matter how many runs you get’, but that is never the case.

“There is never a game of cricket like that. I’m pleased with a bit of a score but disappointed to get out when I did.”

Cook paid tribute to the Oval crowd for the reception he received. He was also given a guard of honour by India as he walked out to bat.

“When you are in the Ashes and walking through the Long Room at Lord’s, it is always such an amazing noise. But today it all happened so quickly,” he said.

“The guard of honour was such a nice gesture but you are just focused on batting. It was very kind of Virat Kohli and India, but I was just focusing on the first ball, so you probably don’t really appreciate it.

“But the reception I got was fantastic. It went on a bit and that made me even more determined not to get out.”

Cook, whose half-century ensured Mick Jagger contributed £10,000 to Chance To Shine, was the standout performer for England.

But it was a day that belonged largely to India’s fast bowlers, Ishant Sharma the pick with 3-28.

Moeen Ali, who battled his way to a half-century and shared a 73-run partnership with England’s leading runscorer for the third wicket, admitted replacing Cook will not be easy.

But he said he was confident that England will find a replacement.

“A player will come in and try to replace Cookie, which will be very difficult. But these things happen,” said Moeen. “There’s always good players, maybe some you don’t know about at the moment.”