I will not return . . . even for the Ashes

ALASTAIR A COOK last night ruled out answering an SOS call from England during next summer’s A Ashes — and said he faced a period of ‘mourning’ after announcing his retirement from Test cricket. Cook, who will win his 161st and final cap against India at The Oval tomorrow, will then embark on three summers on the domestic circuit with Essex. A And he reiterated that this game really would be his last chance to add to his national record tally of 12,254 Test runs and 32 hundreds — even if England find themselves 2-2 against Australia in 2019 with a game to go and he has scored a hatful of runs in the County Championship. ‘That is a very tough question to answer but, no, I’m retiring and that’s it,’ he said. ‘It is final. All those glorious things are just hypothetical. I have done my bit. ‘There is going to be a transition, a period, of course there is. There are going to be times when you have that mourning, but that transition has to take place, whether that is today or in two years. I think having the opportunity to play for Essex will help that a lot.’ Cook’s third child is due on Monday but he said: ‘It’s very difficult to predict the timescale of when the baby will come. We’ll wait and see. We have spoken about it (with wife Alice) and if it comes when I’m batting I will meet it later. Ideally it will come after the match or even better when I’ve got a hundred!’ He added, smiling: ‘Ideally it will come when India are about to bat and I won’t have to field — but I doubt that will happen.’