It was not quite the ovation from the Oval crowd and three cheers from England players in 1948 that apparently left Don Bradman with a tear in his eye ahead of his final Test innings but it was not far off.
How this famous old ground rose to Cook yesterday as he walked out to open the batting for his country for the last time and how hard did he battle to try to earn the perfect send-off for one of the greatest of all England careers.
It is still on, too, with Cook unbeaten on 46 at the end of the third day of the final instalment of this gripping Test series and the dream scenario of a century in a winning cause in his 161st and final Test edging ever closer.
Alastair Cook hit an unbeaten 46 to consolidate England's lead over India to 154 runs on day three of the final Test at The Oval
England captain Joe Root played a number of terrific straight drives and put on a decent stand with Cook
Moeen Ali was left all ends up by a delivery from Ravindra Jadeja and was bowled after making just 20 runs
Another packed house had to wait before the day’s key moment when India extended their overnight 174 for six to 292 all out but when it came one of the most knowledgeable audiences in cricket did not let the former captain down.
The Oval rose to a man and woman as Cook walked self-consciously down the Oval steps and continued their loud and warm applause until he was ready to take strike and they really had to sit down and stop.
The Test, with England just 40 ahead, if not the series was very much on the line which is just the way Cook would have wanted it when he decided ahead of this fourth Test that there was just not enough left in his tank to carry on.
He avoided a repeat of Bradman’s second ball duck 70 years ago that stopped the greatest of them all ending with a career of more than a hundred but took 13 balls before a trademark clip off the hip for four saw him off the mark.
Cook then could easily have been dismissed by Mohammed Shami in the over before tea when he played and missed three times before finally laying bat on ball and then smiling in recognition at the luckless bowler.
India desperately tried to claim their man on 13 when he was struck on the pad by Ravindra Jadeja, whose unbeaten 89 had keep them in the hunt, but the excellent Kumar Dharmasena was proved by technology to be right yet again.
Mohammed Shami ran off with one arm aloft after a peach of a delivery nipped back and took Keaton Jennings' off stump
Cook can count his lucky stars he is still in after India captain Virat Kohli was unfortunate to drop him earlier on in the day
There was fluency when Cook played a sublime straight drive off Shami that raced to the boundary but above all there was calm authority, just as there has been from Cook for 12 highly successful run-laden years.
How England must wish the 12th and last of Cook’s opening partners since Andrew Strauss retired in Keaton Jennings could have shown anything like the same steeliness and composure as England moved towards a powerful position.
Instead Jennings, who survived a reviewed lbw himself, got himself out leaving the ball for the second time in consecutive matches, crestfallen as he watched Shami’s inswinger take the top of his off and middle stumps.
England are in a real pickjle now with Jennings. Ed Smith is determined to take him to Sri Lanka at the end of this month, not least because the national selector does not want to replace two openers at the same time.
But how can England possibly pick a man who has scored just 163 runs at 18 in this series without a single half-century? It is a big decision now for a national selector in Smith who is not afraid of making them.
When Moeen Ali was undone ambitiously trying to drive Jadeja England were only 102 ahead but Joe Root joined Cook in challenging circumstances to extend that advantage to 154 and a strong position by the close.
The latest challenging day for Jennings came when he betrayed his nervous state of mind by dropping Jasprit Bumrah first ball at silly point off Adil Rashid as England sought to finally end the Indian resistance.
It was a costly miss, too, as Bumrah hung on defiantly and took advantage of some wasteful England bowling while Ravindra Jadeja skilfully hogged the strike to add 32 potentially priceless runs for the last wicket.
Jadeja had celebrated his 50 with his trademark rapier-like twirling of the bat – much to the disdain of the onlooking Jos Buttler – and looked certain to repeat the trick for a hundred until he inexplicably set off for a non-existent run to try to keep the strike and succeeded only in running out Bumrah.
It still left England a lead of 40 but they would have been hoping for so much more when they began the third day with India, at 174 for six, still 158 behind and the stage seemingly set for Jimmy Anderson for overtake Glenn McGrath.
Instead the leader of England’s attack, fined 15 per cent of his match fee for a show of dissent at failing to gain Virat Kohli’s wicket on Saturday, still needs two more wickets to draw level with the most prolific fast bowler in Test history.
Anderson and Stuart Broad were simply not at their best, particularly with the second new ball, so England had to rely on spin for finally winkling out an India lower order that keep their side in with a victory chance.
Hanuma Vihari should have been dismissed third ball on Saturday but Stuart Broad inexplicably failed to call for a review when his lbw shout was turned down, England thinking the ball had hit his back leg not the front.
Now the debutant looked much more comfortable in moving on to 56 before he was finally snared by Moeen, who then dismissed Ishant Sharma again with the help of Jonny Bairstow behind the stumps.
Mohammed Shami, so unlucky with the ball, was negligent with the bat when he tried to hit Adil Rashid, finally introduced by Root into the England attack for the 64th over, into the stands and only found Broad at long-on.
Ali produced a fine piece of bowling and dismissed Ishant Sharma and Hanuma Vihari to help reduce India to 292 all out
Adil Rashid claimed the other wicket before Jasprit Bumrah was run out after some great fielding from Stuart Broad
https://hienalouca.com/2018/09/09/alastair-cook-hits-unbeaten-46-to-consolidate-englands-lead-over-india-on-day-three/
Main photo article It was not quite the ovation from the Oval crowd and three cheers from England players in 1948 that apparently left Don Bradman with a tear in his eye ahead of his final Test innings but it was not far off.
How this famous old ground rose to Cook yesterday as he walked out to open the batting...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Sport HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/09/09/18/4FF1348B00000578-6148635-image-m-70_1536514563443.jpg
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