‘Reception made me determined to perform’

about the week and you don’t deliver the goods. I am pleased to get a score and disappointed to get out when I did. ‘I was just as nervous as I am usually. Everyone 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.’ The Oval rose to greet Cook as he came down the steps at the start of play and India’s players formed a guard of honour. ‘That was such a nice gesture, but you’re focused on batting and you don’t have time to appreciate it,’ said Cook. ‘It doesn’t matter if it is your first game or whatever game it is, and it is very kind of Virat and the Indians, but I was just focusing on the first f ball. ‘The reception I got was fantastic. f It went on a bit and that t makes you even more determined d not to get out.’ Cook eventually fell to a ball from Jasprit Bumrah which ricocheted on to his stumps off the inside edge. He admitted: ‘I don’t really know why w I missed it. Whether it kept a bit lower than my subconscious brain thought, whether I could have got forward — I don’t know. But it was disappointing. It was a bad shot.’ Moeen M Ali, who made a four-hour fo 50 in his new role at No N 3, said India made batting difficult di and claimed his team-mates te mocked him for batting like Geoffrey Boycott. But he added with a smile: ‘When they came in and missed their first ball, I was quite pleased about that.’