Former captain hopes to sustain England impact

Cook determined to keep piling on runs under Root

Former Test captain Alastair Cook hopes to keep churning out the hundreds for England in a side led with a “glint in his eye” by his successor Joe Root.

There was something perhaps approaching a tone of relief as Cook assessed his return, after his own recordbreaking tenure, to what he unquestionably does best of all – scoring Test match runs for England.

Following a heartening debut victory over South Africa for the new captain at Lord’s, Cook continues to be confident he and Root will work successfully together – and that the Yorkshireman will not have to radically change the chirpy personality so notable since his emergence as an international batsman.

“I still think you’ll see the glint in his eye,” Cook told the BBC in a sponsor’s interview before the second Investec Test match gets under way at Trent Bridge tomorrow.

“There will be moments when he’ll still play that (cheeky) role at certain stages.”

Cook also admitted he is focused on piling up more runs than any other previous England batsman.

“I was asked about captains sometimes struggling back in the ranks for motivation, but I genuinely love playing cricket.

“Whether it’s an Essex or an England shirt, I genuinely love trying to score runs and set up runs for the side. I hope I can be part of it for as long as possible.”

l Scotland need to hit 332 runs today to win their clash with Ireland in Dublin after the hosts raced to 204-3 to set up a declaration.

The Saltires had earlier been knocked out for 184, with Heriot’s all-rounder Mark Watt hitting 68. By the close of play yesterday Scotland had reached 39-2.