Alastair Cook, a young batsman with a bright future in England’s cricket team
The first Ashes Test is finally over and it has left cricket lovers with memories of some remarkable performances from both the sides.
The first day belonged to the Aussie pace man, Peter Siddle. The second and third day was highlighted with a prolific batting from Michael Hussey.
The main highlight for England was the wonderful batting display by their top three batsmen in their second innings. Their top three batsmen scored centuries in the second innings and really took the advantage away from the Aussies.
One of their star performers was their opening batsman, Alastair Cook. Cook scored a prolific double hundred (235*) in the second innings and struck some impressive boundaries in his innings.
Cook has been in the England side for some time and has become a permanent member in the Test team. This left handed batsman has the ability to play a confident and a steady innings in the Test format. Though he is hardly 26 years old, his ability to stay
at the wicket has always been admired.
For England, a lot will depend upon their opening batsmen if they want to have some success in the Ashes. Cook has the talent and skills to deliver a remarkable performance in the Ashes series and the way he batted in the first Ashes Test really shows his
class.
His innings of 235* in Brisbane showed his ability to play all round the wicket. His innings came at the right time for England as they were in danger of losing the first Ashes Test. His double ton not only took England away from danger, it also provided
them with an opportunity to give a sufficient lead to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746.
His form was an issue before the first Ashes Test and a big innings was due from him. His innings will obviously give him a great deal of confidence for the rest of the Ashes series. Cook made his debut against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 in 2006 and became the 16th
English batsman to score a century on debut. He scored 60 and 134 in that Test match and showed a great deal of confidence as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/A-Young-c41367 batsman.
Since then he has played some impressive knocks for his side and has made some vital opening stands with Andrew Strauss. He has scored 14 centuries in Test cricket, and has been criticized in the past for not being able to convert the fifties into centuries.
His innings of 235* in the first Ashes Test was a counter reflection of this fact, as he successfully converted his fifty into a double hundred. Cook, who was also named the emerging player of the year, has been successful from their start.
On the fifth day of the first Test match, Cook was able to take a step forward from his overnight score of 132*, and managed to score a double century on the last day of the Brisbane Test. It was a timely innings from the left hander, as he had not been
performing well in recent times and his form was an issue for the selectors. It is the highest individual total at the Gabba, beating the previous record held by the legendary Bradman.
He passed his previous best total of 173 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 and scored his first double ton. The good thing about his innings was the fact that he struck 26 boundaries in total, and was able to rotate the strike quite effectively.
The feature of his double hundred in the second innings was the fact that he didn’t play any unnecessary shots and placed the ball in the gaps for singles. He also managed runs at a normal pace and didn’t allow the bowlers to dictate terms to him.
He was involved in a 188 run partnership with Andrew Strauss and along with Trott he added 329 runs for the second wicket. It is the highest partnership for England in Australia. It turned out to be a great Test match for Cook, as he was able to score some
good runs in both the innings.
Alastair Cook, a young batsman with a bright future in England’s cricket team
Another feature of his double ton was his ability to use his feet quite effectively against spinners. He scored a lot of runs off the bowling of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 and Johnson and struck impressive boundaries off their bowling. In his knock of 235*, he struck 26 boundaries,
which also included some impressive cut shots.
Recently, his form was an issue and he was in danger of losing his place in the side. But the way he batted in the first Ashes Test really showed his class and character. He sure is in no compromising mood in the Ashes series and is willing to show his
temperament in the Ashes series.
Overall, Cook has scored 4666 runs in 61 Test matches, and he averages 45.30 with the bat. It is an impressive average for an opening batsman as they have to brave the new ball and the opposition’s initial aggression.
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