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Dav Whatmore, the Pakistan coach, has said he is “disappointed” with the postponement of Bangladesh’s proposed tour of Pakistan following a court stay order

Umar Farooq23-Apr-2012Dav Whatmore, the Pakistan coach, has said he is “disappointed” with the postponement of Bangladesh’s proposed tour of Pakistan following a court stay order. Whatmore also said that he had not faced any security issues during his two-month stay in Pakistan.Bangladesh had agreed to visit Pakistan in the last week of this month for an ODI and a T20I, both scheduled to be played in Lahore, but the tour was delayed on April 19 with a Dhaka court ordering a four-week embargo over security concerns.”It is a bit disappointing,” Whatmore said. “We were planning to quickly get started with training, but all that has been knocked on the head with Bangladesh not coming.”Whatmore, who was born in Sri Lanka and immigrated early to Australia, coached the country of his birth to their famous 1996 World Cup triumph. “From my personal point of view, I’ve lived in Sri Lanka, I was born in Sri Lanka, I lived through civil war there towards the end of that problem, and I am now staying in Lahore for the last two months and move around quite freely. I really don’t have any problems with security.”Whatmore said the Pakistani people were starved of international cricket, which was difficult for them given the following and history of the game in the country. “It must be really hard for the people here, but do they [the rest of the world] really know how hard it is? You need to come and witness it to really know how difficult it is for a nation that has a rich history in international cricket to keep the game going without having the ability to host overseas teams.”For Pakistan, the Bangladesh tour is more a closed chapter for the moment and the series could be scrapped from the ICC Future Tours Programme as Pakistan is unlikely to host Bangladesh at an offshore venue. The PCB is, however, focussing on launching its own lucrative Twenty20 league, and is hoping to have overseas players in it – another tactic to revive international cricket in the country. Whatmore welcomed the idea and was hopeful of its success.”Once it is known to people in the world that the PCB is planning to do this, I’m sure there will be a lot of international cricketers looking at their schedules and see that they are available in this short period of time to come and play here. I am very hopeful that there will be some very good international cricketers coming and enjoying playing in it.”With the possibility that the Bangladesh tour might not happen, Pakistan face a spare period ahead of their away series in Sri Lanka towards the end of May. Whatmore said he would ensure the players avoided getting complacent and rusty during that time.The PCB has recently asked its centrally-contracted players to undergo a fitness test, before they are considered for a new contract. “The fitness test was designed to give everyone an idea of where they are now and after a prescription of work to re-test and see the improvement,” Whatmore said.

Yorkshire forfeited their first innings – and any batting bonus points – to set up a final-day run chase against Gloucestershire

Alex Winter at Bristol11-May-2012
ScorecardTim Bresnan shows his frustration after conceding overthrows but he finished with five wickets before a contrived finish was set up in Bristol•Getty Images

A game that was snoozing along to a tame draw suddenly turned around at 3pm when a plan hatched by the two captains was put into action. Yorkshire handed Gloucestershire two batting points by allowing them 52 runs in 19 balls. They declared, Yorkshire forfeited their first innings, and Gloucestershire batted again for 27.1 painful overs after tea, scoring 48. The public address mocked their progress as they declared again, leaving Yorkshire 400 to win in 110 overs.Jason Gillespie, Yorkshire’s new head coach, has stated on two previous occasions that he will go all out for victory. His side left Essex an achievable fourth-innings target at Headingley in the second match of the season and again here he has been very generous to the opposition.”It’s risk versus reward,” Gillespie said. “The chance to take 16 points to me is an easy decision. I think you have to risk a loss to go for a win. If you play safe cricket first you’ll never win enough games to go up. And I think it’s good for our players to try and play when there’s a bit of pressure on; it’s a test of character. You have to trust your players to do the job and it’s a good for them. We’ll certainly be going for the runs.”The pitch is good, Gloucestershire were 290 for 4 before their collapse of 5 for 9 brought about the contrived situation. “The feedback from the batsman is that there’s a little bit in it but if you stay patient and disciplined, batting gets a little bit easier,” was the expected description of conditions from Gillespie. “We’re confident if we get through the difficult periods we can put a bit of pressure back on Gloucestershire.”That is certainly possible. Their attack is inexperienced and Alex Gidman denied them the chance to bowl in similar circumstances against Kent at Canterbury. He declared on the fourth morning with a lead of 350; the game petered out.Gloucestershire will be nervous here because to concede 370 runs on the final day would be a cricketing disaster. But Bristol is not Adelaide and Yorkshire will have to play exceptionally well against the new ball to even set up a chance to overhaul this target.They have scored heavily in the fourth innings in recent times. In 2006 they made 433 losing to Warwickshire; a year earlier they twice scored above 400 to beat Leicestershire. On both occasions Anthony McGrath made runs at the top of the order. He lingers here at No. 6, poised to provide another knock in another famous victory? Not many are betting on that result. Not even Dr Pangloss-Gillespie. He isn’t a gambler he says.Part of the deal was that Gloucestershire would get a little dart on the third evening. They got 15 overs, one more than scheduled, and removed Joe Sayers – Will Gidman grazing his outside edge. They could have had Adam Lyth too if Alex Gidman had claimed a low chance at first slip.There were other nervy moments against Will Gidman and Ian Saxelby, who produced decent carry. But it was comfortable batting against Ed Young. How a quality spinner would change Yorkshire’s outlook. Young isn’t that. He sent down two overs of easily-defendable darts.It was the opposite of darts that helped set up the declaration. The loopiest bowling achievable allowed Saxelby and Graeme McCarter, on debut, to merrily thrash Gloucestershire to four batting points when three was looking unlikely after the collapse brought about by Steven Patterson. He removed Richard Coughtrie for a 15-ball duck and Ed Young next ball, both caught at slip, before adding Will Gidman to his 4 for 77.It was a turnaround after the serene progress earlier. Kane Williamson stroked a ball in his gentle manner through the covers to make it three centuries in three first-class matches. He edged Tim Bresnan behind, who then went on to warm up for the first Test by having Ian Cockbain caught at third slip; Alex Gidman caught behind; and bowling Hamish Marshall with a full ball that he dug out but rolled back onto his stumps. Bresnan’s two spells of six and seven overs brought 2 for 11 and 2 for 12.

Stuart Williams, the assistant coach of West Indies’ A side, has said that the series against India A will be a good platform for Lendl Simmons to prove his fitness and return to the West Indies national team

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-2012Stuart Williams, the assistant coach of West Indies’ A side, has said that the series against India A, that begins on Saturday in Barbados, will be a good platform for Lendl Simmons to prove his fitness and return to the West Indies national team.Simmons, who scored 1100 runs from 36 ODIs at 34.37, hasn’t played top-flight cricket since he injured his left knee during the WICB Regional Four-Day Tournament in February this year. “Simmons will want to use this series to prove his fitness and readiness to return,” Williams said. “He was excellent for West Indies in limited-overs cricket last year and he will want to get back in the groove and re-start his international career.Williams said that the series also gave legspinner Devendra Bishoo and batsman Kraigg Brathwaite, who played in the Test series against Australia in April, a chance to find form. “The ‘A’ team serves several purposes, and sometimes players lose form, and this series will be a chance for players like Bishoo and Brathwaite to regain their form and look to get back into the senior side,” Williams said. “They are both young, talented players and they have a lot to offer West Indies cricket.”Speaking after a training session on Thursday, Williams said that the ‘cohesion and camaraderie’ between his player would help them challenge the visitors. “They have brought a team with some experienced players (at the international level) so this series will be a good test for us,” Williams said. “It is always good to compete against good, strong opposition and push yourself to the limit. Our players recognise that this will be a ‘big’ series for them as they look to show continued development and progress.”Both India and West Indies have a mix of youth and experience in their side on the tour. Bishoo, Brathwaite and Simmons are among the capped West Indies players in the squad, while India have Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Rahul Sharma and Ashok Dinda in their mix.Williams said that he was confident his side would put on a good show, as a number of players have competed at this level before. “We have a great bunch of players and it is clear we have a very good team spirit,” he said. “We have formed a good unit and everyone is familiar with each other. The team has quite a few players who were part of the Sagicor High Performance Centre, as well as others who have played together for the West Indies A team before.” The series will feature three four-day matches, two Twenty20s and three 50-over matches.Edited by Carlyle Laurie

Jesse Ryder, the New Zealand batsman, has said he will be available to play for Wellington during the 2012-13 domestic season

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2012Jesse Ryder, the New Zealand batsman, has said he will be available to play for Wellington during the 2012-13 domestic season. His manager, Aaron Klee, informed Wellington officials of Ryder’s decision on Saturday.”I’ve thought long and hard about playing cricket this summer and I think I’m going to be totally refreshed and ready to hit the summer firing on all cylinders,” Ryder told . “I’m not asking for anything different than any other player – I just want to be back playing with the Wellington boys and helping them win titles next season.”I’m setting myself some big goals for the season – I’m going to come back stronger than ever and make an impact for Wellington. This is the first step in the next stage of my career and I’m going hard out. As I said, I’m just focusing on one job at a time. I don’t have any expectations of being selected for the Black Caps [New Zealand team] this summer – if I score heaps of runs and do the right stuff, that might happen in time.”It’s all about Wellington for me at the moment – whatever happens in the future will happen. I want to play for New Zealand again, but I’m taking one step at a time.”Klee said he was proud of the progress Ryder had made since he was dropped from the New Zealand squad in March for breaking team protocol.”We’ve been through some rough times, but this is what it’s all about – Jess making the right decisions and getting the job done,” Klee said. “Jesse made the call to not sign up for the Sri Lankan Premier League. That was an easy way to earn some cash for three weeks work, but it was going to interfere with what he’s privately working away at in terms of personal goals. I think he’ll smash some records this domestic season.”Ryder had said he felt like he was “hung out to dry” in the aftermath of the incident at the Napier hotel during the ODIs against South Africa earlier this year. He said he had not done anything wrong and the whole episode, which in his opinion was blown out of proportion, diminished his love for cricket. Ryder revealed he went on an alcohol binge after he left the team and returned to Wellington.Since then, Ryder said he was taking an indefinite break from cricket but played the IPL with a support structure in place. He and the New Zealand board agreed he wouldn’t get a central contract as well until he was ready.

Tom Smith, fresh from a 44-ball hundred, showed his more patient side as he fought to stave off the threat of relegation for Lancashire

Myles Hodgson at Aigburth28-Aug-2012
ScorecardTom Smith, seen here earlier this season, played a few more forward defensives as he fought to keep Lancashire in Division One•Getty Images

The patience and determination displayed by Tom Smith against Durham will not capture as many headlines as his innings just 24 hours previously, but it may prove more influential to Lancashire’s fortunes for the remainder of the season. Scoring a 44-ball hundred in a washed
out one-day game was spectacular, but his four-hour championship
innings prevented the type of collapse few teams recover from quickly.Arriving at the crease with Lancashire reeling on 11 for 4 after taking the gamble to bat first in damp conditions, Smith knew how important his innings was in a game Lancashire dare not lose if they are to have a chance of avoiding relegation from Division One. By the time an absorbing first day at Aigburth was over, he had faced 177 balls, hit his highest first-class score since last year and guided Lancashire in sight of a second batting point.The contrast between the two innings could not have been starker. The pyrotechnics of his century at New Road gave way to a vastly different approach in difficult conditions. Facing Graham Onions, an international class bowler in nearly any other Test-playing nation, in damp conditions that led play to be delayed until after lunch, he had no choice but to choose survival over spectacular.In the same number of balls in which he reached his hundred on Monday, he had
scored 18. When batting was at its most difficult he was content to
face 38 deliveries without scoring and allowed Gareth Cross to
dominate a 72-run sixth wicket stand.By the close, however, he had
also scored 86 priceless runs, and shared an unbroken 91-run
partnership with Kyle Hogg that had shifted the momentum remarkably
back in Lancashire’s favour.”When I went out to join Ashwell Prince we said it was one of those
days when you had to dig deep,” Smith explained. “There were times
when you were going to play and miss, which I did a few times during
the day, and there were a few rushes of blood to the head, but as the
day wore on it got easier to bat as the ball got older.”Monday was a great day for myself, but it was nice to get some runs
in what is a crucial Championship game. You can’t really compare the
two knocks, but walking out at 11 for 4, it was tough, so that knock is up
there with one of my best.”We showed today we are not just going to let the season go. We want
to stay in the First Division so we want to get a positive result
here, and one at Middlesex next week, so hopefully going into the last
game we will already be safe.”Smith seemed an unlikely hero when play began after a delayed start
with Onions setting the tone by knocking back Paul Horton’s off-stump
when he offered no shot to an in-swinger. By the time Steven Croft was
bowled with a full-length ball that kept low, Onions had claimed three
wickets in 18 balls and Lancashire, champions just 12 months ago,
looked every inch a relegated side.Their prospects could have been even worse had Ben Stokes, standing at
third slip, clung on to a difficult catch after Prince edged Onions
with Lancashire standing on 28 for 4.It was not a costly drop in
terms of runs, with Prince adding only 17 more runs to his total
before holing out to the deep trying to pull a short ball from Stokes,
but importantly he batted for a further 12 overs and allowed the
conditions to ease.It was still far from easy when Cross joined Smith, although the new
batsman quickly accelerated past Smith, but as the ball grew older, so
the batting conditions eased.”My game plan is pretty simple – let the
bowler bowl at me, anything outside I leave,” Smith revealed. “Onions
is an international-class bowler and he was at my end for quite a
while and didn’t give me anything to hit.”Crossy was scoring at the other so I didn’t really have to, it was
all about building a partnership. There were one or two shots I played
out of frustration, but the speed of the runs didn’t really matter.”Even after Cross gave Stokes a second wicket, bowled playing around a
straight ball after scoring only his second championship half-century
of the summer, Durham were unable to bowl the same menace as the
afternoon progressed and Hogg teamed up with Smith and expertly guided
Lancashire to the close without further loss.

Steffan Piolet and Paul Best swept Warwickshire to the top of Group C of the Clydesdale Bank 40 with an unexpected three-wicket victory

07-Aug-2012
ScorecardRookies Steffan Piolet and Paul Best swept Warwickshire to the top of Group C of the Clydesdale Bank 40 with an unexpected three-wicket victory under the Edgbaston floodlights under the Duckworth-Lewis method that effectively dashed Yorkshire’s already slim semi-final hopes.Piolet, who batted with a runner after he sustained a hamstring injury bowling, and Best added 40 in just three overs to take Warwickshire to a revised target of 238 in 34 overs with four balls to spare.Yorkshire thought they had the match won when Tim Ambrose, who made a bustling 64 from 47 balls, carved Moin Ashraf to short third man. But Piolet turned the match decisively in Warwickshire’s favour when he pulled Steven Patterson and Ashraf for sixes in consecutive overs to finish unbeaten on 23 from nine balls.Best followed up his competition-best bowling of 3 for 43 with a rapid unbeaten 16, also from nine balls, to take Warwickshire above Sussex in the group.Yorkshire will wonder how they contrived to lose their fourth game in the competition this season after captain Andrew Gale and Adam Lyth laid the foundations for a competitive total with aggressive half-centuries.But Yorkshire lost five quick wickets after they returned to face 19 balls after a 65-minute stoppage for rain and Warwickshire’s run chase was sustained by a third-wicket stand of 74 in 10 overs between Ambrose and captain Jim Troughton.Neither could finish the job, as Troughton was bowled for 61 driving at Azeem Rafiq and Ambrose fell when victory was in sight, but Piolet and Best, who have become one-day regulars this season, proved their worth.Defeat was particularly hard on Lyth, who played a superb attacking innings which included four sixes in six balls, three of them off consecutive deliveries from Chris Wright either side of the rain break. The second of those took Lyth to a 49-ball half-century and he added a fourth off Keith Barker before he skied the next ball to midwicket.Warwickshire’s run chase was interrupted by some brilliant fielding by South African David Miller, who held two catches including a superb running effort at deep midwicket to account for William Porterfield, and was also involved in two run-outs.But Yorkshire’s bowling under pressure was not quite so assured, with Warwickshire successfully chasing down 83 from the last 10 overs.

Lancashire have released former England faster bowler Saj Mahmood after ten years at the club

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Sep-2012Lancashire have released former England fast bowler Saj Mahmood after ten years at the club. Mahmood, 30, spent the latter part of the season on loan at Somerset, after losing his place in the Lancashire side, and it has now been confirmed that his contract will not be renewed.Mahmood, who has played in eight Tests and 26 ODIs, was a part of Lancashire’s title-winning team last season, taking 35 wickets, but saw his opportunities this year limited by the arrival of Ajmal Shahzad from Yorkshire. He made just three Championship appearances in 2012 and didn’t play again after conceding 42 from 2.3 overs – and 17 off his last three legitimate deliveries – in Lancashire’s opening Friends Life t20 defeat to Derbyshire.Lancashire’s director of cricket, Mike Watkinson, said: “We would like to thank Saj for his contribution to the club over the last 10 years and we wish him well for the future.”After being spotted playing in the Bolton Leagues, Mahmood joined Lancashire on a scholarship in 2002 and went on to make his international debut at the age of 22. With more than 300 first-class wickets to his name and the ability to bowl at significant pace, Mahmood should be an attractive prospect for many counties, though he recently admitted that “inconsistency” had dogged his career.Although he swapped a relegation battle that saw Lancashire drop into Division Two for a spell with the county that eventually finished second to the champions, Warwickshire, Mahmood was mainly signed as cover by Somerset. In three appearances he claimed eight wickets at 30.12 and they may prefer to rely on the emerging Overton twins and Lewis Gregory as fast-bowling back-up for 2013.

MS Dhoni, speaking with a catch in his voice that betrayed his acute disappointment, has called for a “practical” assessment of India’s failure to make the knockouts of the World Twenty20 for the third successive time

Abhishek Purohit in Colombo03-Oct-2012MS Dhoni, speaking with a catch in his voice that betrayed his acute disappointment, has called for a “practical” assessment of India’s failure to make the knockouts of the World Twenty20 for the third successive time. Dhoni said it was important to remember that India had lost only one game during the tournament, against Australia, and he maintained that rain during that match had handicapped his bowlers.”The same question was asked when we lost in England and Australia,” Dhoni said when asked whether the side needed an overhaul after recent failures. “This is one question that arises when we have not done well but just see the performance in this tournament. We lost one game and lost it badly.”We all know what impact rain has on the bowlers, especially spinners and bowlers who don’t bowl 140 [kph] plus. Let’s get practical about what the reason was and then assess if it’s the fault of the players. It is not. It can happen in this format. You are at the stage where other games are having an impact. You don’t want that kind of situation to happen but sometimes you are just forced to accept what is pushed on to you.”India had to beat South Africa by at least 31 runs to qualify for the semi-finals ahead of Pakistan on net run-rate and Dhoni said that was too steep a difference to achieve. Overall, Dhoni said India’s showing in the tournament was acceptable. “The performance was otherwise satisfactory. We didn’t think that the other match [Pakistan v Australia] would impact us so much. We knew that it would affect us but the required margin while winning was too big so we had a problem.”Dhoni said going into the game, India’s plan was to restrict South Africa and chase the target with a few overs to spare. “As per the equation our strategy was to field first and then score whatever the target at a fast pace, 15 or 16 overs. So that is why we thought that if we play an extra batsman that would be helpful for us. We needed to win by a margin of 30-odd runs so [I] was not so comfortable while making the strategy because when you are batting first you don’t know what is a good score.”During South Africa’s chase, India were relying on the fast bowlers to get them early wickets, Dhoni said. “We wanted to make use of the new ball initially. I knew that if our fast bowlers could swing it a bit and get those early breakthroughs in the first six overs, then we could put pressure through the spinners. But if we tried the other way around, it is more than certain that if the fast bowlers come on later, it will be difficult for them to get batsmen out unless they play a rash shot. We started with fast bowlers, got the breakthroughs, but then they batted quite well and Rohit’s (Sharma) over went for runs. But 120 was quite a low target to defend. We won this game by one run, so it is difficult to say that if a few strategies had been changed, we could have defeated them big.”

A wrap of the second day of the fourth round of Ranji Trophy matches in Group A

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Nov-2012
Scorecard
Shami Ahmed took a hat-trick in the morning to close out Madhya Pradesh’s innings at 342 though MP remained ahead as Bengal’s batsmen failed to follow up the good work. MP began on 322 for 5, and would have had at least 400 on their minds, but lasted only 13 overs as Ahmed took all five wickets to fall to finish with 7 for 79. His hat-trick accounted for the last three men in the MP line-up – Anand Rajan, Amarjeet Singh and Ishwar Pandey – in the 103rd over. Bengal also lost three quick wickets to be at 19 for 3 before Writam Porel and Wriddhiman Saha stabilised the innings with a 68-run stand. Saha went on to make 87, his fifth 50-plus score in six Ranji innings this season, and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala made an unbeaten 41 but MP were still the likelier team to take the first-innings lead.
Scorecard
Saurashtra’s batsmen put on a better show in the second innings but it wasn’t enough to prise the match from Punjab’s control. After being bundled out for 90 on the first day, Saurashtra had little hope of salvaging anything from the game, but they began spiritedly, keeping down Punjab to 205 despite the prolific Uday Kaul remaining unbeaten on 41. Siddharth Trivedi, who has been a regular for Rajasthan Royals over the past few years, did the most damage, finishing with 5 for 64. Their chase was undermined by Siddarth Kaul taking four wickets by the 18th over, with Saurashtra still to wipe out the deficit. That included the dismissal of the most well-known player in the side, Ravindra Jadeja, falling lbw for a duck. After having a big impact in the past two matches – a triple-century against Gujarat, and a nine-for against Hyderabad – Jadeja has failed with the bat twice here, and hasn’t got to bowl so far. Sagar Jogiyani’s unbeaten 72 held the innings together, but India U-19 bowler Sandeep Sharma struck three times to complete his ten-for and leave Saurashtra 97 ahead with only three wickets remaining.
Scorecard
After being pounded on the first day by Mumbai, Hyderabad had a much better second day but still have plenty to do to bring the match back on level terms. They started brightly by quickly dismissing the overnight batsmen, Hiken Shah and Rohit Sharma, both of whom had made centuries on Saturday. Abhishek Nayar, who has hit two unbeaten hundreds in his two Ranji innings this season, added a half-century but four of the next five batsmen made 2 or less, and Mumbai were dismissed for 443, a far lower total than they would have expected after beginning the day on 325 for 2. Mumbai were also hurt as one of their specialist batsmen, Suryakumar Yadav, couldn’t bat due to an injury. Ashish Reddy, the fast bowler who took eight wickets on debut earlier this week, was again Hyderabad’s most effective bowler, taking 4 for 77. Hyderabad’s batsmen built on the good work of their bowler, with the new captain Akshath Reddy and Under-19 batsman Hanuma Vihari hitting half-centuries.
Scorecard
Railways remained in charge though they lost their final five wickets for 10 runs and Gujarat’s openers dourly batted out 35 overs. After bowling out Gujarat for 117 in the first innings, Railways posted a 300-plus score to tighten their grip on the game. Their captain Sanjay Bangar followed up his five-for with a 61, and their wicketkeeper Mahesh Rawat made 66 that was enough for them to weather a lower-order collapse, which had them falling from 298 for 5 to 308 all out. Gujarat’s openers then crawled along at 1.54 runs an over to finish at 54 for 0, still needing to bat out a minimum of three sessions to stay in the game.

As far as Graham Gooch is concerned, the best of Alastair Cook is yet to come

George Dobell10-Dec-2012As if the last couple of weeks have not contained enough bad news for India, Graham Gooch had a little more for them: as far as Gooch is concerned, the best of Alastair Cook is yet to come.Cook’s batting has been one of the major differences between the teams this series. In three Tests, he has contributed three centuries and his tally of runs – 548 at an average of 109.60 – is more than Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh combined.But Gooch feels Cook, who will be 28 on Christmas Day, has not yet reached his peak and will inevitably break Gooch’s own record as England’s top run-scorer in Test cricket. Gooch scored 8,900 Test runs, while Cook currently has 7,103. Only Kevin Pietersen, of current England players, has more with 7,335.”In my opinion,” Gooch said, “the years between 27 to 35 are the best years for a batsman because you have honed your knowledge and you know your game. I think he’s got his best years in front of him. He’s got to stay fit and motivated but nothing at the moment would suggest to me that that won’t happen. I hope to hang on in this job until he goes past my record.”Few know Cook as a cricketer as well as Gooch. Not only do the pair of them, as Essex and England opening batsmen and captain, have much in common, but Gooch was the batting coach at Essex as Cook was developing and now performs the same role with England. He has watched Cook at close quarters throughout his career and, while Gooch admits Cook has never been the most eye-catching player, the skills that have served him so well at the top level were apparent very early.”Alastair was on the Essex Academy and it was pretty obvious he was going to be a good player,” Gooch said. “I can’t remember the first time I saw him but I do remember him keeping wicket and batting for our Board XI against Essex in a proper match.”That match was a Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy game from 2003. Cook, opening the batting and keeping wicket for Essex Cricket Board against Essex, only scored 27 in the match, but his maturity stuck in Gooch’s mind.”My early memories of him as a person were that he was very mature for his age and very balanced and considered. He went about his cricket in a methodical sort of way and you can still see that now. The priceless ability he had when he was young, and again you can see this now, is that he knows exactly what he can and can’t do. He puts that in place and into practice and doesn’t step outside that.”You know the old saying? It’s not how, it’s how many. He knows the way to play. Often young players coming up have talent and ability to strike the ball but they don’t quite know how to manage their ability. Sometimes it dawns on them later in life and sometimes it doesn’t dawn on them at all but this lad had it from the beginning. He knew how he could operate.”He applies a certain type of game in Test cricket that works. When he came into the one-day side a lot of people said he didn’t have the game for it but smart players find a way. And he plays a different sort of game in one-day cricket. He’s not a power player but he keeps it moving and his runs-per-balls ratio is very good. That shows the skill of the man in being able to adapt.”He tends to get on the front foot now a bit more later in his innings and he plays a very resolute game outside off stump. He’s worked very hard over the years. He practices the sweep and hitting the ball over the top and it’s good to see him showing confidence in selective sweeping against the turning ball. He’s had success with that and also has the confidence to use his feet and come down the wicket. He’s starting to enhance his game.”Maybe he’s thinking back to the Pakistan series in 2010 when he had a bit of a nightmare and thinking ‘I’m going to get every run I can now because it’s working for me’. I’m in good form and I’ll cash in.”Gooch is also impressed by Cook’s leadership since being appointed Test captain. Not only has Cook set a record – centuries in each of his first five Tests as captain – but has led England to a 2-1 series lead in conditions in which many expected them to struggle.”Captaincy has enhanced his run scoring already,” Gooch said. “It’s difficult to look into a crystal ball and say whether it will affect him down the line but all the opportunities are there for him. He’s mentally strong, that’s his greatest asset, and he could achieve a lot of things. There’s a lot of cricket in front of him and that can affect you but I’d like to think he will go all the way. He’ll certainly go past my record in the not too distant future the way it’s going and good on him because he’ll deserve that. He’s mastered his art to a degree and is always looking to improve. If he delivers, England win matches.”I think we’ve seen already in the dressing room that he’s prepared to make his own decisions. He doesn’t always take the coaches advice in that he wants to do it his own way. He’ll make mistakes and he won’t get it right every time. You have to grow into that job, the way you get the best out of people, counsel them, and make tactical decisions. All those things come into it. He’s in his infancy but I don’t see any reason why he won’t be a good captain and leader of men.”