England skipper Alastair Cook's wait to join the elite club of cricketers who have scored 10,000 Test runs continues after the opener was dismissed for 16 on the opening day of the Headingly Test against Sri Lanka
England skipper and opener Alastair Cook's wait to join the elite club of cricketers who have scored 10,000 Test runs just got longer after being dismissed for 16 on the opening day of the Headingly Test against Sri Lanka.
Cook was left agonizingly 20 runs short of becoming the first English batsman to achieve the feat on Thursday and will now have to wait for his turn in the 2nd innings.
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Sri Lanka's Dasun Shanaka (L) celebrates after taking the wicket of England's captain Alastair Cook (2nd L) during play on the first morning of the first Test match between England and Sri Lanka at Headingley in Leeds, northern England on Thursday. Pic/AFP
The opener though still got his name in the record books by becoming Sri Lankan debutant all-rounder Dasun Shanaka's first wicket in Test cricket. It was the seventh ball in Test cricket from the 24-year-old medium-pacer.
Cook came out to bat needing just 36 more runs to become only the 12th player in cricket history to reach the landmark after Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews won the toss and elected to field at Yorkshire's headquarters.
The left-handed opener got off the mark with a four and rarely looked in trouble before being dismissed against the run of play. He was sent back to the pavillion when he pushed at a wide delivery and was caught behind off Shanaka. England were 49 for one at the time.
Shanaka then bowled a brilliant spell as he took three wickets for one in eight balls as he claimed the scalps of Nick Compton and Joe Root for ducks.
England went from 49 for no loss to 51 for 3. They ended the first session at 57/3.
Two years ago the same opponents at the same venue had almost ended Cook's captaincy reign.
In 2014, Sri Lanka won the second Test at Headingley by 100 runs to secure their first series win in England after home No 11 James Anderson's resistance was ended off the penultimate ball of the match.
Cook's captaincy during that match was the subject of widespread criticism, with Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews, who made a Test-best 160, and Rangana Herath taking the game away from England with an eighth-wicket partnership of 149 on the fourth day in Leeds.
Asked how close he had come to quitting the England captaincy following that loss, Cook told a news conference at Headingley on Wednesday: "Close enough, I think. Close enough that you wouldn't want to get any closer."
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