England called up wicketkeeper Jos Buttler as cover for the first test
against India after Matt Prior reported feeling tightness in his right
thigh. Prior began feeling pain, but England captain Alastair Cook
believes he will be able to play when the test begins at Trent Bridge.
"We are 99 percent certain he will be fine," Cook said. "You have a
little check in the morning just to make sure, but all looks good at the
moment." Cook can't say the same for his position in the team. The Sri
Lanka series last month was heralded as a new era for England, but
produced the same old results of late, a loss at Headingley and a 1-0
series defeat, the first at home to Sri Lanka. Despite withering
criticism of Cook's conservative tactics from the likes of former
captains Geoffrey Boycott and Michael Vaughan, they agreed Cook was
still the man to lead England, and had enough credit to keep the job.
Cook, himself, said he would not resign from the captaincy, and would
have to be pushed out. He had support from coach Peter Moores, plus
India coach Duncan Fletcher and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has
his own problems to tend to, but Cook knows he can answer the critics
only with wins and a deluge of runs.
Since his last century, a record 25th for England, in May 2013, Cook has gone 24 innings and averaged 25. He denied the captaincy was to blame for his woeful form. "I can honestly say that it has never crossed my mind, when someone is running in at mid-80s to 90 miles per hour, I'm thinking about what field placings I'm going to set for someone else," he said. Since the defeat at Headingley, he said he had worked hard to rediscover his batting touch. He said he also wasn't worried about losing the captaincy should he fail to score runs across the five tests against India. "I'm not in charge of making decisions like that," he said. "It's a huge honor to do this and I can go to sleep knowing I've thrown everything I've got into it." England have to decide whether to reintroduce all-rounder Ben Stokes, who is returning from a self-inflicted wrist injury. With Moeen Ali the part-time spin replacement for Graeme Swann, Stokes could replace Chris Jordan. England has not won its last seven tests. India has not won any of its last 14 away tests, which began with the 4-0 whitewash in England in 2011.
SOURCE-http://www.crictoday.com/news/194-slider/1
Since his last century, a record 25th for England, in May 2013, Cook has gone 24 innings and averaged 25. He denied the captaincy was to blame for his woeful form. "I can honestly say that it has never crossed my mind, when someone is running in at mid-80s to 90 miles per hour, I'm thinking about what field placings I'm going to set for someone else," he said. Since the defeat at Headingley, he said he had worked hard to rediscover his batting touch. He said he also wasn't worried about losing the captaincy should he fail to score runs across the five tests against India. "I'm not in charge of making decisions like that," he said. "It's a huge honor to do this and I can go to sleep knowing I've thrown everything I've got into it." England have to decide whether to reintroduce all-rounder Ben Stokes, who is returning from a self-inflicted wrist injury. With Moeen Ali the part-time spin replacement for Graeme Swann, Stokes could replace Chris Jordan. England has not won its last seven tests. India has not won any of its last 14 away tests, which began with the 4-0 whitewash in England in 2011.
SOURCE-http://www.crictoday.com/news/194-slider/1
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