“Well the big advantage that England always has is that they are always playing a minimum of 11-12 Test matches on an average in a year”.
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In the shorter term, England do have one or two issues to address despite their unassailable 2-0 lead over Sri Lanka.
Alastair Cook has the potential to move ahead of Indian great Sachin Tendulkar as the world’s all-time leading test run-scorer, England head coach Trevor Bayliss has said.
Given his age and the amount of cricket played these days it is not beyond the realms of possibility that Cook will one day surpass Tendulkar’s Test record of 15,921 runs.
Sri Lanka had resumed the fourth morning on 309 for 5, trailing England’s 498 for 9 declared by 88 runs afte haing been shot out for 101 in the first innings.
The match officials’ report, which was handed over to the Sri Lanka team management at the end of the match, cited concerns about the legality of the 29-year-old’s bowling action. Alex Hales has overcome a disappointing debut Test series in South Africa last winter and looks more at home as Alastair Cook’s opening partner following half-centuries in the past two Tests.
Cook added: “The game is not about personal milestones – it’s about winning games of cricket for England and trying to score runs to do that”.
But a hundred in the third Test at The Oval saved his place and set Cook up for a triumphant tour of Australia where he scored 766 runs, including three hundreds, as England won the Ashes 3-1.
“When I was 20 odd not out I saw Elsie running around with Layton Stokes – and then you realise how special it all is”, he said.
Westley and Bell-Drummond are both plying their trade in the Second Division of the County Championship, often seen as a barrier to entry to Test cricket.
Cook praised his side’s determination after a series-clinching win over Sri Lanka.
While England became anxious as the prospect of an innings victory – and of an early getaway on the motorway – evaporated, Cook gave the man who was his fastest bowler three overs out of 44.2 on day four. Dale Steyn, 6. Ravindra Jadeja, 7. Who knows? He is fit enough, strong enough, and we know how mentally tough he is.
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“But I’m quite hopeful everyone that’s in the team at the moment can keep going forward because it’s a good feel in the team and it’s been a winning team”.
