Agony for England as Cook is so close to a miracle
Alastair COOK last night insisted he was still the right man to l ead England after a defiant hundred from Moeen ali came within two balls of pulling off a great escape against sri lanka at Headingley.
Moeen and last man Jimmy anderson defended stoutly for 84 minutes until anderson was dismissed at 7.08pm to hand the jubilant sri lankans their first series win in England.
Cook said: ‘i’ve never quit on anything. i’m incredibly proud to be England captain, as long as i’m selected to do it.
‘if someone decides i’m not the right person for the job, then fine. Until that moment, i’m determined to turn English cricket around.
‘i’m in it for the long haul, as i believe i am the right man for the job. i’ve got to score some runs against india in the first couple of tests. No one’s guaranteed a place in this England team.
‘i’ve got to work incredibly hard over the next 10 days or so. i need to spend a bit of time with my family and, from Monday, hit as many balls as i can.’
anderson, who ate up 55 balls for what almost became the most famous nought not out in test history, later burst into tears while being interviewed by Mike atherton — a gesture that was not lost on his captain.
‘that shows what it means to play for England,’ said Cook. ‘sometimes we get accused of not caring much, but you can’t fault the way they played on the last day. it was an incredible effort from Moeen, for such a free-flowing player to show such calm.’
after his first series back in charge of the side, England coach Peter Moores said: ‘ You saw by Jimmy’s reaction how the dressing room feels. it’s a tough one, but we’ve got to take the lessons we’ve learned on the chin.
‘We showed real spirit and fight out there, but i’m not sure we showed that spirit and fight for every session of the game. You’ve got to be ruthless at test level.’
Moeen, who faced 281 balls for his unbeaten 107, said: ‘i’m very gutted. a hundred to save the game would have been fantastic. i’d rather get 99 and have saved the game. i was gutted for Jimmy.’
anderson, the man who held firm in Cardiff five years ago to deny australia, repelled everything sri lanka threw at him in a last-wicket stand with Moeen that seemingly earned a draw that had long appeared out of England’s reach.
Yet just as it seemed all the hard work had been done, just as it appeared that England would get out of a huge hole of their own making, shaminda Eranga had the final glorious word for sri lanka.
Just as the first test had gone down to the final ball before the match was drawn, this one lasted until 7.07pm and the penultimate ball of the final over before the investec series finally swung decisively in sri lanka’s favour.
anderson was barely troubled until Eranga delivered a short-pitched brute of a delivery that he could only fend off gently to rangana Herath.
England had come so, so close to becoming the first side to bat through the final day of a test having begun it five wickets down but, ultimately, had to face up to the harsh reality of losing an early summer series for the first ever time.
this was a heart-wrenching way to sink to a defeat but the way England held out so doggedly for so long will only increase their sense of frustration at a test and a series they simply threw away.
ten chances in al l were squandered in this match by England who also wasted a position of dominance with the bat in the first innings and then crashed to 57 for five on the penultimate evening when chasing a theoretical 357.
Yet when the dust settles on what should be recognised as a significant triumph for sri lanka, England will take consolation in the performances of the new players who have all made an impact throughout two long, hard tests.
None more so than Moeen, who was simply brilliant in scoring his maiden test century in the most difficult of circumstances.
any concerns that he may not be good enough to be a specialist spinner — and he is a much better bowler than even England seem to realise — should be shelved. this impressive character is good enough as a batsman alone.
Moeen had joined Joe root at the start of the final day with seemingly only the full extent of England’s humiliation to be decided. and it quickly became clear that the bad f eeling between these sides that began with the reporting of sachithra senanayake for throwing had reached boiling point, with sri lanka taking their verbal attack on root to the limits.
When Nuwan Pradeep finally found a way past root, sri lankan joy knew no bounds. But there was to be more controversy in the form of two no balls, one that was given and one that was not before the test was settled.
Firstly, when Matt Prior was bounced out, a technological check on Dhammika Prasad’s front foot found him perilously close to being in front of the line. tV umpire Paul reiffel gave the benefit of the doubt to the bowler.
Yet when Chris Jordan was caught off Eranga, an apparently identical foot position this time led to a no-ball call and a reprieve for the batsman.
Jordan did not hang around to take advantage of his let-off and, when stuart Broad was trapped by Herath after refusing a single, England’s fate looked complete. Yet there was so nearly a final barely believable twist.