New dad Cook facing testing winter
Alastair Cook will head into his milestone 134th test stimulated — and perhaps a little daunted — by a schedule the like of which England have never seen.
as he prepares to overhaul alec stewart’s England record for most test caps, the temptation might be to dismiss the challenge posed by a Bangladesh team who have only ever won home tests against Zimbabwe.
But the two-match series, which starts in Chittagong tomorrow, is followed by five tests in india against the world’s No1 team. and all this before Christmas.
By the time the final game ends in Chennai on December 20, some careers will have taken shape, while others may have moved into sharper focus. it is eight weeks that will help define Cook’s legacy.
Even in a land of floodplains and paddy fields, it felt about right when he referred to what lies ahead as a ‘mountain’.
one task among the foothills will be to choose a ninth opening partner for the captain since the retirement of andrew strauss four years ago: lancashire’s studious 19-year-old righthander Haseeb Hameed or Northamptonshire’s cavalier left-hander Ben Duckett.
Duckett, who has made four 50s in his six innings on this trip, is set for a test debut regardless, batting at No 4 if Hameed — who made an impressive half-century against a Bangladesh Cricket Board Xi on Monday — is preferred at the top of the order. that would squeeze out Gary Ballance.
Both youngsters are adept against spin, which will be to this winter what swing and seam are to a home summer.
the Bangladeshis, sensing England’s achilles heel, will go in with only two seamers, while india’s off-spinner ravichandran ashwin recently moved to the top of the test rankings. Nimble feet, soft wrists and quick thinking will be at a premium.
the good news is that asia has become his favourite continent — even if it has prised him away from his new daughter, born on sunday.
His first crack at test captaincy came in Bangladesh six years ago, when he stepped in for strauss and responded with two wins and two hundreds. He was at the forefront of England’s victory in india in 2012-13, scoring three successive centuries. and a year ago he took 263 off Pakistan in abu Dhabi. in all asian tests, Cook averages 60.
‘it is nice to come to the subcontinent and know you have done well in the past,’ he said. ‘i hope i can pass some of that on to the guys.
‘it doesn’t make you feel like the best husband and father in the world leaving only 18 hours after the birth, but we are here now and you have to get stuck in. there is no point moping around.’
true to his word, Cook was in the nets by himself on tuesday, facing local bowlers in an attempt to rediscover the fluency he enjoyed in the summer against Pakistan.
He was later joined by Jonny Bairstow, while others played golf — a much-needed day off after eight of them were involved in the hard-fought one-day series win. it was a result that, for Cook, emphasised the size of his task.
He said: ‘it was amazing to see how tired they were after only one game. We know we have to do that for ten days, to be relentless here in Bangladesh, then we have five test matches in india. it is going to be a mountain.’
if England are to avoid getting giddy, their captain will need to be at his remorseless best.