COOK: I CRIED IN FRONT OF PALS

ALASTAIR COOK broke down in tears when he told his England team-mates he was quitting.

Cook (above) waited for Joe Root and Moeen Ali to return to the Ageas Bowl dressing room last week after the presentations then announced that the Oval Test would be his last.

The man-of-the-match interviews gave Cook just enough time to sink “a couple of beers” before his emotional

speech. “I was a couple of beers in, which I needed to be otherwise I would have cried more than I actually did,” admitted Cook. “I just about managed to hold it together.

“At the end of the game I just said, ‘This might be good news for some and sad for others, but it’s time. I’ve done my bit and if picked, the next game will be my last one’.

“There was a bit of silence, Mo said something, we all laughed and everyone got on with it. We had a nice evening in the changing room.”

And it is that camaraderie which Cook will miss, along with the chance of a solo struggle with the bowler, which he won on so many occasions.

“The battle between bat and ball is a one-on-one thing,” he added. “I love that stuff, but you play it in a team. The experiences I’ve had with some great people over 12 or 15 years are what makes it special.

“Me versus the bowler is great, but you get a team feeling too.”