Sir Alastair Cook famously never sweated throughout his record-breaking career.
Even back in December 2010 after seven hours in the 40 degree Adelaide heat, the man who would become a four-time Ashes winner – twice as captain – barely perspired as he delivered his second successive hundred of a memorably victorious tour.
It was a physical peculiarity which meant England regularly threw the ball to him whenever they needed it dust-dry in search of reverse-swing.
Curiously, though, it belied Cook’s greatest assets of determination and ability to graft for sessions, sometimes days, on end without losing concentration.
Cook, who has now called time on his remarkable career at the age of 38, will be treasured for generations for his extraordinary durability.
Most famously that brought him 12,472 runs and 33 centuries, both England records, in 161 Tests.
Yet even after he stepped away from the international game five years ago, Cook maintained his hunger at domestic level, scoring a further 3,889 first-class runs for Essex .
Overall the left-hander compiled 26,643 first-class runs with 74 hundreds in 352 games spanning 20 years. He also played 178 List A games and 32 T20 matches, scoring 14 centuries across both of those formats.
The signposts to a potentially great career were evident from the moment the one-time St Paul’s Cathedral School chorister began to make a name for himself at the start of this millennium.
Cook’s statistics as a schoolboy at Bedford and a club-cricket prodigy for Maldon in Essex had already turned heads when he made his county second XI debut at the age of 15.
He hit back-to-back unbeaten hundreds when captaining England at the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2004 and scored an unbeaten double century against touring Australia for Essex at Chelmsford the following year.
In March 2006 he was rushed 6,000 miles from an England A tour of the Caribbean as an injury replacement to make his Test debut against India in Nagpur. He took it all in his stride as he scored 60 at his first attempt and then an unbeaten second-innings century.
These were feats beyond the ordinary and his final Test, also against India, proved similarly fairytale-like as he scored 147 in a 118-run victory at The Oval.
He could have walked away then but he was not done, helping Essex to a second County Championship title in three years in 2019 and remaining at the forefront of the game in England.
His story was not always straightforward, even during his world-record run of 159 consecutive Test appearances.
There were run droughts and his brilliant Ashes winter of 2010-11 – when he scored a superb 766 runs in a rare England triumph Down Under – only occurred after he booked his place by chiselling out a century against Pakistan in the nick of time.
There were further travails as captain, including the saga of Kevin Pietersen’s Test exile and a 5-0 hammering in Australia, but he remained a resolute and driven individual.
Combined with undoubted skill, these characteristics made Cook one of the greatest players English cricket has ever produced.
Inglis hails 'hard to stop' Stoinis after ruthless knock
Josh Inglis lauded "hard to stop" Marcus Stoinis as Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan in style, claiming a whitewash.
The hosts raced to a seven-wicket victory with almost nine overs remaining in Monday's third match.
After Australia's bowlers had limited Pakistan to just 117 runs, Stoinis ensured they signed off their final white-ball assignment in style, with his unbeaten 61 doing the damage.
Only twice has he bettered that knock in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*).
"It's been a great week. We've had a lot of fun as a group," Inglis said. "It's been really nice.
"When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop. One of those sixes was probably the biggest I've ever seen!"
Stoinis, who was named player of the match, added: "Nice to score some runs on a beautiful wicket but credit to the bowlers who kept the total down.
"Yeah, I actually told [Haris] Rauf that this is the first time any of us got the better of him! No, he's a brilliant bowler, bowled well this series."
During their white-ball tour, Pakistan won the ODI series, their first time doing so in Australia in 22 years, but got whitewashed in the T20Is.
Despite the heavy loss, captain Agha Salman chose to focus on the positive effect the experience will have on their young players.
"I think in the middle overs, we didn't capitalise on the start," he said. "But lots of positives.
"The way Usman [Khan] batted, the way Jahandad [Khan] bowled. These youngsters will come good.
"It's obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20Is."
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.
The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.
However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.
Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists
West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.
Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.
However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.
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