British newspapers were united in praise of Alastair Cook after the Essex batsman marked his England debut with a century in the second innings of the first Test against India at Nagpur.
Cook playing instead of Marcus Trescothick after the vice-captain had flown home for personal reasons, finished on 104 not out as the tourists, who also had injured skipper Michael Vaughan missing from the top order, declared on their overnight score of 297 for three and set India a stiff target of 368 for victory on Sunday's last day.
Ex-England opener Michael Atherton, in the broadsheet Sunday Telegraph, praised Cook's temperament. "He was calm from the moment on the first morning he pulled a rank long hop to the boundary, much in the fashion of David Gower.
"My only criticism is that he occasionally became bogged down against the spinners and struggled to turn over the strike," the former England captain added. "Mind you, some of us were still like that after 100 Tests and a decade at the top."
Cook has been mentored by Atherton's old opening partner Graham Gooch and the Essex and England great, himself a former Test skipper, told the tabloid News of the World: "I knew he'd handle the situation. He's got that character - that's his strength. "He's got a lot to learn but he knows that and wants to work hard. The best thing about him is he's a nice lad."
Cook's Tour de force," ran the headline in the tabloid Mail on Sunday in a reference to both the batsman's surname and the long-established British travel agents Thomas Cook. "England's new hero flies 10,000 miles across nine time zones to score a century in his first Test," it added as it recalled the fact that Cook had been summoned to India from the A team tour of the Caribbean.
The paper also quoted Cook recalling how he'd been told he'd won a new female admirer.
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