An untidy shot prevented captain Alastair Cook from grabbing a place in cricketing history on Friday when he was caught at slip for 15 as England reached 83-2 at lunch on the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka.
England were all out for 391, taking a slender 27-run first innings lead, riding on captain Joe Root's majestic knock on an entertaining day of Test cricket at Lord's.
Queen Elizabeth II was the special attraction on day one of the second Test match between England and Australia at Lord's in London, on Thursday.
England captain Alastair Cook is all set to break India's legendary batsman Sachin's Tendulkar's record by becoming the youngest batsman in the history of the game to score 10,000 Test runs. Cook is just 36 runs shy of reaching the milestone and once he gets there, he will also become the first English batsman to reach the feat. Cook will be targeting the mark in England's first Test against Sri Lanka at Headingley on Thursday. Tendulkar's 10,000th Test run came against Pakistan in Kolkata in March 2005, a little more than a month before his 32nd birthday. Cook meanwhile, turned 31 on Christmas Day last year, meaning if he scores the 36 runs required in the opening Test against the visiting Sri Lankans, he would have reached the 10,000 barrier five months younger than India's batting legend.
India captain Virat Kohli's stoic batting helped India eke out a draw on the fifth and final day in the opening Test against England in Rajkot on Sunday. But it was his English counterpart Alastair Cook, who stole the show and the records on the day!
England captain Alastair Cook and Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews also joined in to pay their respects to Phillip Hughes.
England captain Alastair Cook will be eyeing a place in history when his side's three-Test series with Sri Lanka begins in Leeds on May 19. Cook boasts 9,964 runs and is just 36 runs short of completing 10,000 runs in Test cricket. More notably, the 31-year old can eclipse master blaster Sachin Tendulkar's record of being the youngest to reach the 10,000-run feat. Tendulkar's 10,000th Test run came against Pakistan in Kolkata in March 2005, a little more than a month before his 32nd birthday. Cook meanwhile, turned 31 on Christmas Day last year, meaning if he scores the 36 runs required in the opening Test against the visiting Sri Lankans at Headingley, he would have reached the 10,000 barrier five months younger than India's batting legend. While Cook looks likely to become the youngest man to 10,000 Test runs, he won't be the fastest to reach the milestone in terms of innings played.
Younis Khan's superb 218 put Pakistan in a strong position before they picked up four England wickets to take complete control on the third day of the fourth and final Test at The Oval on Saturday.
England captain Joe Root confirmed that rookie batsman Ollie Pope will make his debut against India in the second Test starting at Lord's on Thursday.
England captain Alastair Cook was almost speechless with delight after his side's 124-run victory over New Zealand in a gripping first Test at Lord's.
The former England captain said that both sides must address the fragility in their batting orders, with England too dependent on captain Alastair Cook and Joe Root and the hosts relying on Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers.
England trails Australia by 535 runs on day two in the second Ashes Test in Adelaide on Friday.
England have named an unchanged 13-man squad for the second Ashes Test at Lord's next week having thrashed Australia by 169 runs in Cardiff on Saturday to take a 1-0 series lead, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Sunday.
Indian cricket team will be aiming to pick up pieces while spoiling Alastair Cook's farewell party in the fifth and final Test against England starting Friday.
Former England skipper Ian Botham believes Alastair Cook's decision to relinquish the captaincy could see him surpass legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's record as the all-time leading Test run-scorer.
Dhoni was picked as captain of ODI and Twenty20 teams of the decade, while Virat Kohli was named the leader in Tests.
The right-handed batsman made his Test debut against India in 2012 and has scored 8,249 runs in Test cricket, including 19 centuries and 49 half-centuries, since then.
Former England batsman Mike Gatting has backed Alastair Cook to lead his side to a fight-back in the second Ashes Test in Adelaide.
England will have to make some tough decisions about the futures of some of their most decorated senior players after they were ruthlessly exposed by Australia in a 15-day Ashes capitulation.
'I think it is my 140th game, and I have never played in a game where we haven't had nets but sometimes you have to remember what happened in the cyclone -- people lost their lives'
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain has called on Alastair Cook to step down and hand over captaincy to Joe Root if the left-handed opener feels he's taking the job for granted. Before coming on the tour of India, Cook had admitted he did not know how long he would remain in the job, suggesting it could be as little as two months. However, he played down that speculation of stepping down as skipper post the ongoing Test series against India before the start of the first Test itself.
With pacer Jofra Archer, opener Rory Burns and star all-rounder Ben Stokes back in the England squad, the visitors are likely to have some competition for spots in the team for the 1st Test against India.
England would love to regain the Ashes in the next Test at Trent Bridge but the loss of leading bowler James Anderson to injury is a disappointment they must overcome, captain Alastair Cook said.
England are being "too nice" and need to "get nasty" against Australia in the Boxing Day Test to fight back in the Ashes series, said former skipper Michael Vaughan.
England captain Alastair Cook said a lack of experience on the subcontinent cost his team dearly as they fell to a first-ever test defeat by Bangladesh in Dhaka on Sunday. England suffered an astonishing collapse at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, losing 10 wickets in a single session in their second innings, and were all out for 164 while chasing 273 for victory on the third day of the second and final test. Next up for Cook is a five-match test series in India starting on Nov. 9, on spin-friendly pitches similar to the one England struggled to come to terms with in Dhaka.
'There are huge talents in that dressing room and I hope to be still part of it and be able to lead in a slightly different way. I'm still excited by that.'
Alastair Cook stepped down from his role after 59 Tests as England Test captain followed his team's disappointing showing in India recently.
Alastair Cook will not be quitting as England captain despite losing the second Test to India by 95 runs at Lord's on Monday, the 10th successive Test they have failed to win.
Former captain Kevin Pietersen believes the form of three players will be key to England's hopes of beating Australia to regain the Ashes in their Test series starting in Cardiff on Wednesday.
Alastair Cook faces his biggest ever challenge as England captain when he leads his young team into this year's home Ashes series against Australia.
England captain believes there is change of mentality in the resurgent England squad
Alastair Cook is now England's leading Test match run-scorer.
Joe Root has yet to score a century in Australia and in his two previous away Ashes series averages 38 from nine Tests.
Images from Day 2 in the third Ashes Test between England and Australia.
The 33-year-old opener said he informed his team mates about his retirement plans after their 60-run victory over India in the fourth Test at Southampton but had told captain Joe Root before the match.
The 33-year-old will play his last Test when he faces India in the 5th Test at the Oval on Friday.
England claimed seven Indian wickets in an extended morning session on the fourth day on Sunday to bowl out the hosts for 204 but will need to pull off a stiff 405-run chase on a fast-deteriorating wicket to win the second Test in Visakhapatnam.
Factbox on England captain Alastair Cook, who became the first English batsman to score 10,000 runs in test matches in the second test against Sri Lanka on Monday. *Born Dec. 25, 1984 in Gloucester, England. *Scored an unbeaten 104 on test debut against India at Nagpur in 2006, and made his one-day international debut against Sri Lanka in the same year. *Scored 766 runs in seven innings during the 2010-2011 Ashes tour, to help England to their first series win in Australia for 24 years. *Scored 294 against India in 2011, his highest test score to date, and was named as International Cricket Council's Test Cricketer of the Year in 2011. *Was appointed MBE in the Queen's birthday honours list.
Following is a factbox on England's leading Test wicket-taker James Anderson, who became the first pace bowler to claim 600 victims in the game's longest format.
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