THRILLING US!

them their best chance of slugging out a victory that would give them a share of this pre-Ashes mini-series.

Certainly the way England played at Lord’s has led to a rush in ticket sales at Headingley which should see this famous ground close to its 17,000 capacity for the first three days.

And those here should see two significant landmarks reached. Jimmy Anderson stands one wicket away from becoming the first Englishman to take 400 Test wickets while Cook needs just 32 runs to overtake his mentor, Graham Gooch, to become England’s leading Test runscorer.

‘I wouldn’t put myself anywhere near Goochie in class but it would be a lovely moment to break his record,’ said Cook.

‘However nice it would be to go past the great man, 30-odd won’t be enough for the game. If I get there it will be something to remember but it will be important to go on from there.’

It is a measure of Gooch’s class that he is back helping Cook as his personal adviser because it was just over a year ago that the England captain rang his mentor to tell him that he was being sacked as England batting coach.

The move hurt Gooch more than he has let on in public but he was quick to say yes when Cook decided last winter that the man who knew his game best was the best choice to help him rediscover his form.

‘I had worked with him

since I was 18 but we both made the decision for me to try out other coaches,’ said Cook. ‘I think it’s important to have one guy to go back to because he knows your game and he knows you as a person. You need that when you are scrutinised so much as an international.’

England added Liam Plunkett to their Lord’s squad because both Anderson and Mark Wood were ‘sore’ after the first Test but both have come through practice and they should be unchanged for the last Test before the Ashes. This will also be the last Test with interim coach Paul Farbrace in charge before he hands over to Trevor Bayliss. It offers another chance for Farbrace to return to the assistant’s role after having further enhanced his reputation.

Farbrace did much for England’s relaxed mindset at Lord’s and made the key decision to return Ben Stokes to No 6. His challenge now is to hand over to his great friend Bayliss with England still wearing big smiles.