Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MURRAY IS HOPING TO BE ABU FAB
Cook eclipses Lara and Viv records but gives a brutal assessment of his MCG double ton.. it’s come three weeks too late, I’ll have to live with that
ANDY MURRAY took to the practice courts in Abu Dhabi as he steps up his bid to be fit for the Australian Open.
The former world No.1 spent almost 90 minutes being put through his paces by coach Jamie Delgado at Zayed Sports City.
The Scot, out with a hip injury since Wimbledon, also plans to hit with other stars playing at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition before flying to Brisbane tomorrow.
The draw for the Brisbane International will be made tonight and the double Olympic champion is slated to play his first competitive match since July next Wednesday or Thursday.
World No.1 Rafa Nadal (knees) has pulled out of Brisbane along with Kei Nishikori (hips) and US Open champion Sloane Stephens (knee).
But British No.1 Jo Konta is playing her first tournament since October after last season ended early with a foot injury.
The Wimbledon semi-finalist said: “It is the first tournament of the season – and the strongest one we have so it is a great place to jump into the deep end of things.
“I am playing Brisbane and Sydney again in the lead-up to the Australian Open so it is a great opportunity to get as many matches as I can under my belt.
“I haven’t played a competitive match for a few months because I finished my season early so there is no better place to get back than here.” ALASTAIR COOK was at his gladiatorial best inside Australia’s sporting coliseum to ensure the words England and whitewash would not be joined together this winter.
But the former captain’s joy at reaching a whopping 244 not out by the close of day three was tempered by his own admittance it had come ‘four weeks too late’.
No one knew better than he that his poor form had been a contributing factor in the defeats, in the same way his brilliance in 201011 did the opposite.
Cook’s fifth Test double hundred took him past Brian Lara on the list of Test run scorers and another West Indies legend, Viv Richards, whose 208 not out was the previous highest by an overseas player at the MCG. “It ranks right up there because it was kind of feeling like last-chance saloon,” said Cook (below). “When you’re in those positions and you dig yourself out, it makes you proud.
I would have been entitled to be dropped, just because I hadn’t scored a run since Edgbaston. I always feel as though I have the backing of the selectors, but you still have to deliver, and I hadn’t done that on this tour.
“To get a really big score for the team was very important. It’s just a shame it’s three-and-a-half to four weeks too late.
“I’ll have to live with that for a long time.”
This was searingly honest stuff from Cook, who was fronting up to his own insecurities in a way few world-class sportsmen do, even though he has scored more Test runs than all but five other men in the history of the game.
But he has never questioned his desire to continue being an England cricketer.
“Most of my runs are pretty ugly runs, and I feel a bit sorry for Brian Lara,” he admitted.
“It’s quite hard work, but I’ve always been proud of my work ethic and I’ve always thought about fighting hard. I’ve always had doubts and will still doubt myself, but I’ve never thought my career was coming to a close.”