Cook serves a tasty dish but England make a meal of it
Opener sparkles in final Test but India bowlers storm back to force late collapse
Alastair Cook’s determination to rise to the occasion in his final Test drove him on at The Oval.
Cook admits he was disappointed to eventually be dismissed, bowled off an insideedge by India seamer Jasprit Bumrah for 71, but he spoke with relief, too, at stumps that he had done himself justice.
In his 161st and final Test, the innings which is likely to prove Cook’s penultimate in international cricket – after he announced his impending retirement – helped England close on 198 for seven.
Despite a late collapse of six wickets for 48 to an India attack who excelled themselves, England therefore retain prospects of sending their all-time record runscorer off with a win which would complete a 4-1 scoreline in a Specsavers series the hosts sealed last week.
Cook walked out to bat to a standing ovation, through a guard of honour from Virat Kohli’s India, and the last thing he wanted was to let himself and an expectant crowd down.
“Because of the emotion, I just did not want to not get a score,” he said.
“I was so determined, because there is nothing worse than going out and not contributing – all the fuss about the week and you don’t deliver the goods.
“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. I am pleased with a bit of a score, but disappointed to get out when I did.”
Cook shared an opening stand of 60 with Keaton Jennings and then one of 73 with England’s new number three Moeen Ali (50).
The 33-year-old opener was touched by the reaction of a packed house, and the opposition, when he began his innings. “It all happened so quickly, it is really weird,” he said. “The guard of honour is such a nice gesture, it is very kind of Virat and the Indians, but I was just focusing on the first ball.
“The reception I got was fantastic. It went on a bit and that made me even more determined not to get out.”
Moeen Ali began to sense, during their hard-working partnership through a wicketless afternoon, that Joe Root’s prediction of a valedictory Cook century may prove accurate. “Yeah, definitely,” he said. “When he got dropped I said it was meant to be for you.”
Cook eventually succumbed to Jasprit, and after having to play against type for his deserved half-century, Moeen described India’s bowling as “one of the best attacks I’ve faced”.
He added: “I probably wasn’t good enough to nick them. When I went into tea, the guys were calling me Geoffrey Boycott. Then they came in, played and missed their first ball and I was pretty happy with that!”
Cook concurred, describing Mohammed Shami’s wicketless efforts as “an unbelievable spell”.
He added: “The way the Indians bowled was fantastic. I think I played one pull and one cut shot all day so full credit to them. Sometimes in Test cricket, you have just got to suck it up.”
India spinner Ravindra Jadeja took two wickets to help out the seamers. He said: “Everyone bowled well, especially whenthepartnershipbetween Moeen Ali and Alastair Cook was on, our plan was to stop the boundaries.
“Our plan was that if they didn’t get boundaries, they’d panic and play wrong shots and get out – and that’s exactly what happened.”