karlpejera: Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss combine for rare England century

Martes, Enero 24, 2012

Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss combine for rare England century

? Fourth set of left-handers to complete feat
? Cook: between overs we talk mostly about cricket

After welcoming his wife to Abu Dhabi for their fourth night together as a married couple since their wedding on New Year's Eve, Alastair Cook launched a passionate defence of another long-term partner, Andrew Strauss, as they prepare to open the batting for England for the 100th time inWednesday's second Test against Pakistan.

The left-handed former public schoolboys pair will become the first England opening pair to achieve that milestone, and only the fourth in Tests after Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer, Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu, and Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, who hold the record with 148.

Their chances of overhauling the brilliant Bajans currently seem remote, with Strauss nearing 35 and enduring a lean run which has reduced his average partnership with Cook to 42.91, as England have only reached 25 without losing a wicket in two of their last 11 Test innings.

But Cook, who opened the batting with Strauss on his Test debut in India in March 2006 and suffered a rare double failure in last week's Dubai debacle, is convinced that major stands lie ahead ? and that his expected ascension to the Test captaincy therefore remains a while off yet.

The pair spent much of England's first practice session at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium batting in adjacent nets, and then walking across the ground together to the adjoining practice area where they worked with Cook's Essex brains trust of Graham Gooch and Andy Flower.

"I had no idea it was our 100th time, and I don't think Straussy has either," said the 27-year-old Cook, who picked out the match-saving second-innings partnership of 188 in last winter's first Test in Brisbane, and a stand of 196 at Lord's in the previous Ashes series in 2009, as his favourites ? the last two games in which Strauss scored a century. "It's a nice achievement to get there. We've got to know each other really well, especially as batsmen ? we're both quite similar characters, so it's been very easy to manage. Between overs we talk mostly about cricket, but we tend to be quite relaxed.

"I'm not quite sure why he hasn't scored a hundred since ? Brisbane, is it? I haven't seen him hit the ball better for quite a long while ? if you look at him in the nets, he's moving as well as he's ever moved. We all know about form and how it dips and rises. But he is a genuine world-class player, and I think runs for people like him are just around the corner, without a shadow of a doubt."

Their tally of 4,651 runs scored together is sixth on the list of Test cricket's most productive pairings for any wicket, some way behind the record of 6,900 held by Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. In terms of previous England openers, Strauss's alliance with Marcus Trescothick was more consistent, with 2,670 runs at an average of more than 50 per stand, and no other partnership in Test history can come close to Herbert Sutcliffe and Jack Hobbs, who opened together 38 times between 1924-30, but put on 15 century stands and averaged 87.81.

Cook revealed that England's Australian physiotherapist Ben Langley had adopted a new role during practice as the best purveyor of a Saeed Ajmal-style doosra, with the fielding coach, Richard Halsall, also throwing some down and the spin coach, Mushtaq Ahmed, switching from his usual leg breaks and googlies.

It was a long, intense session, reinforcing Cook's argument that the arrival of partners and in many cases children can enhance rather than undermine the team's focus. "I think last night was the fourth night I've seen her since the wedding," he said of his wife, Alice, having been granted permission to link up slightly late in Dubai to allow them to take a 36-hour honeymoon in the Cotswolds at the start of the month.

"It's brilliant. Sometimes you can get just concentrating on cricket and it seems the be-all and end-all, then suddenly you see kids running around and realise it is important but it's not that important ? you can take the pressure off outside of cricket and when you come to the ground you can really focus and get away from it afterwards."

Now it is ending a rocky spell for his on-field alliance with Strauss that will consume Cook's thoughts whenever he leaves the hotel behind.

Andy Wilson