Opening spot up for grab claims Alastair Cook – Cricket News Update
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Lumb-c1981 Root likely to partner him.
Cook, who took over has http://www.senore.com/Cricket/IJL-Trott-c1576 in his customary no.3 position, which provides the uncapped players a genuine opportunity to stake a claim in the Test side.
England’s loss to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in August was a serious concern for the ECB during which many players failed to deliver the goods, and off-field troubles hampered the team’s growth. It further forced the management to rethink their strategies ahead of the upcoming tough tour of India. That included the need to find a suitable replacement for the now retired Strauss, and to deal with the Kevin Pietersen- ECB stand-off.
While some of the areas have been covered, notably Pietersen’s integration into the Test side, other are still being worked upon, notable being the eventual opening partner to the new Test captain. Having arrived in the sub-continent well ahead of the first Test, it has allowed http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 to test Compton and Root’s credentials.
In the first-warm game, the Poms went in with the Cook-Compton partnership and while the former impressed with a composed century, Compton disappointed as he was caught behind for a duck. Luck again deserted the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Somerset-c843 player in the second-practice match, as he was cleaned up for just 1.
In contrast, Root managed 28 in the ongoing game, facing a total of 75 balls. The time spent on the crease has indeed put him in pole position for the opening Test, which starts from November 15.
However, Cook said that the competition for places is still open and the final playing XI will only be decided after the third warm-up match, which takes place from November 8th.
"It's a cut-throat business and they both have an opportunity to score runs and push their claim," Cook said. "They're at different stages of their career. One's far more experienced and has got more runs behind him. The other one's a lot younger and has impressed everyone at every stage of his career. We're still waiting to see so these are important days.
"It was totally open when we picked the squad. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Andrew-Flower-c44362 and I haven't seen a huge amount of either. It was important we came here with a clear mind and I think we've done that."
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