Sir Alastair Cook struck his 74th first-class century as Essex took advantage of perfect batting conditions in their LV= Insurance County Championship clash with Somerset.

Former England captain Cook converted to three figures in 210 balls before reaching 128 as Essex racked up 360 for four on the opening day with Matt Critchley adding a sublime 119.

A stand of 115 between makeshift opening partnership Phil Salt and George Balderson saw Lancashire take charge against Hampshire at Southport.

Having dismissed the visitors for just 142, helped by three wickets apiece for Tom Bailey and Will Williams, Salt and Balderson made light work of Hampshire’s much-vaunted bowling attack as they powered their way to 139 for one at the close, trailing by three runs.

A stellar century by Jordan Cox rescued Kent as they faced champions Surrey at Canterbury.

The hosts recovered from 41 for five to 301 all out after losing five top-order wickets for seven runs in the space of 31 balls.

Cox led the fightback with 133, exactly 100 of which came after he was dropped by Ben Foakes.

Surrey’s Sean Abbott took four for 52, but the visitors were 18 for two at stumps, trailing by 283 after Agar claimed two late wickets.

Sam Hain’s third century of the season helped Warwickshire get off to a strong start against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

The visitors ended day one on 361 for five after Hain shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 171 with Dan Mousley (87), opener Alex Davies having earlier scored 93.

In Division Two, Matthew Fisher delivered a timely demonstration of his international potential on a day of Yorkshire domination against Derbyshire at Chesterfield.

Fisher – who played a Test Match in the Caribbean 15 months ago and could come into Ashes reckoning if England’s fast bowlers sustain injuries – returned career-best figures of five for 30 to skittle Derbyshire for 111.

Yorkshire skipper Shan Masood heaped further misery on his former county with 67 – his highest score of the season – and Dawid Malan made an unbeaten 76 before rain ended play early with the visitors 272 for five, 161 ahead.

Only 36 overs were possible between Gloucestershire and Leicestershire at Bristol because of heavily overcast skies and rain.

By the close of a frustrating day, Gloucestershire had posted 108 for three, Ollie Price unbeaten on 26.

Kiran Carlson scored a brilliant century to allow Glamorgan to post 390 with the bat against Durham at Seat Unique Riverside.

Carlson was dropped on 67 and 107, and he duly made the hosts pay with his knock of 162 supported by 60 from Sam Northeast and a quickfire 45 from Billy Root.

Tailenders Jack Carson and Henry Shipley helped Sussex mount a respectable score after an early stumble against Worcestershire.

Sussex recovered from 142 for six to reach 338 for nine at stumps thanks to some late-order hitting from Nathan McAndrew, Carson and debutant Shipley, the latter two putting on 85 for the ninth wicket.

Worcestershire’s Joe Leach finished the day with figures of six for 73.

Alastair Cook was announced as England’s new one-day captain on this day in 2011.

Cook replaced his Test match opening partner Andrew Strauss, who retired from the format, while Stuart Broad took over from Paul Collingwood to lead the Twenty20 side.

Strauss said: “I’ve enjoyed my time as England one-day captain immensely and I’m extremely proud of the strides we’ve made in limited overs cricket over the past two years.

“We still have a long way to go if we’re to achieve our goal of winning ICC global events and I feel now is the right time for me to step aside and ensure someone else takes up that challenge.

“I look forward to working closely with both Alastair and Stuart as we work together to progress England’s development across all forms of the game.”

Cook was the stand-out batter during the historic Ashes success the previous winter, scoring a record 766 runs, but was not included for the subsequent one-day series against Australia or the World Cup and had played sparingly in ODIs.

He said: “Andrew Strauss has led the one-day team to continued success over the past two years and I’ll be looking to continue that progress as captain.

“I’m excited by the challenge of taking our 50-over cricket to new heights and I believe I can play an integral role with the bat as well as captain.”

Cook also became Test captain the following year and broke numerous batting records during a career that ended in 2018.

His record in the one-day game was considerably less impressive, though, and his captaincy ended in December 2014, with Eoin Morgan taking over ahead of the World Cup.

Alastair Cook expects Joe Root to go "miles past" his record for the most Test runs scored by an England batter after the former captain reached the 10,000 landmark at Lord's.

Playing his first game for his country since stepping down as skipper, Root claimed the man of the match award for his magnificent unbeaten 115 in a five-wicket win over New Zealand.

He was brilliantly supported by Ben Foakes (32 not out) in an unbroken stand of 120 that gave England a winning start to a new era with Ben Stokes as captain and Brendon McCullum head coach.

Root's 26th Test century made him only the second England player to score 10,000 runs in the longest format after Cook, and only the 14th from any nation.

At 31 years and 157 days, he reached the milestone at exactly the same age that his former team-mate Cook achieved the feat.

Root is 2,457 runs shy of the tally of 12,472 Cook racked up in his outstanding Test career and the former skipper says only injury can prevent him from beating his record.

"Barring injury, he'll go miles past my record," Cook told BBC Sport.

"He is so hard to tie down. I had to grind my way to 30, it always took me what felt like two hours. Because Joe has got so many low-risk scoring options, pretty much through 360 degrees, he will often get to 30 off 40 balls."

Cook, who ended his international career aged 33, rates Root as the best England batter he has witnessed.

"He is a pleasure to watch, the most complete England batsman I have seen," he added.

"The person who could play the most incredible innings was Kevin Pietersen, but for the most complete batsmen in all three forms, it's Root. His consistency is incredible."

England and New Zealand start the second match of the series at Trent Bridge on Friday.

Ian Botham led an onslaught of criticism for England's Ashes failures after Joe Root's team capitulated pitifully to lose the final Test in Hobart.

Botham was joined by fellow former England captains Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan and David Gower in picking apart another wretched display, with Australia tying up a 4-0 series victory.

England sit at the foot of the World Test Championship, and Botham said the culture of English cricket needed to change, with the heavy emphasis on domestic limited-overs competitions harming the five-day team.

Speaking on Channel 7, Botham said: "It's been embarrassing, if I'm honest. Gutless.

"The way they performed today disappointed me and will have disappointed everyone back home."

England went from 68-0 to 124 all out, the final ignominy from a shambolic tour performance as Australia won by 146 runs.

"The one thing we need to do right now is take our heads out of the sand and pull together and prioritise red-ball cricket," Botham said. "If we're not careful, the eskimos will be beating us."

Cook, Joe Root's predecessor as captain, found it a jarring watch as England went from building a solid foundation to outright carnage, unable to hold back Australia's victory charge.

"There was no resilience there. As soon as they get under pressure, you seen how much resolve there is," Cook said.

"That was very, very tough viewing and that has to be our rock bottom. There cannot be any worse a place in terms of getting bowled out in an hour and a half."

Speaking on BT Sport, Cook added: "As a batter and a professional who plays games of cricket, you get bowled out in a session once or twice in a career.

"You see a batting line-up devoid of all confidence and belief, that once you lose one wicket or two wickets, nobody's going to step up and stop that slide.

"You can talk all you want about it in the dressing room, but until some people grab this team by the scruff of the neck and move it forward themselves, I can't see what's changed."

Vaughan, on Twitter, said England had carried through 2021's "year of the batting collapse" into this year, adding: "You can cope with losing but not when you throw the towel in."

Gower suggested the positive messages that Root and coach Chris Silverwood attempted to deliver were misleading.

"I think we understand very easily that neither Joe Root or Chris Silverwood are going to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth under these circumstances," Gower said.

"Both are under pressure for different reasons. Joe has handled it well, kept a smile on his face. When you see him run out to bat today you can see there is a man who wants to do his best to finish on a high note, but he is not being supported.

"Silverwood's role is a different one because he is fully implicated in selection, and selection's been one of the huge talking points on this tour, right from Brisbane onwards."

For the first Test at the Gabba, England went into the match and series with star bowlers Stuart Broad and James Anderson mystifyingly left on the sidelines.

"There were jaws dropping at home and in Brisbane when the team was announced and when events unfolded," Gower said.

Also speaking on BT Sport, Gower said he had "genuine sympathy" for Root given the focus on white-ball cricket. Although England won the World Cup, in Test cricket they are firmly in the doldrums.

"This is the oldest, most important form of the game," Gower said. "We need to defend it, we need an England team that plays it well, that is not languishing at the foot ... barely even at the foot of the World Test Championship.

"These things really annoy people and apparently it's really annoying me at the moment.

"When you're going to try to be constructive, you look at personnel for sure, so there will be people fearing for their position in the side. Then you also have to consider who else is there to take over. There are players out there who would hope they might get a go as a result of other people's failures, but they've got to show character."

Former England captain Alastair Cook has penned a two-year extension with Essex.

Cook, who is England's all-time leading run scorer in Test cricket, signed an initial three-year deal with Essex following his international retirement in 2018.

Since then, the 36-year-old has played an integral role in the county's successive red-ball titles in 2019 and 2020, first the County Championship followed by the inaugural Bob Willis Trophy.

Cook registered 172 in the first innings in the latter success at Lord's to offer Essex an early lead against Somerset, ending the campaign as the leading run scorer in the competition with 563 runs at an average of 56.30.

But Essex endured a tough season the following campaign, failing to qualify for Division One of the County Championship, while it remained unclear whether Cook would renew terms.

Cook, however, has decided to continue playing for at least the next two years.

Upon signing his new contract, the opening batsman to Essex's in-house media: "I have really enjoyed my cricket here at Essex since my international retirement.

"We are lucky to have a fantastic dressing room and great coaching staff, led brilliantly by Anthony McGrath, and I'm looking forward to what is hopefully another successful couple of years."

The left-hander made 161 Test appearances, racking up 12,472 runs at an average of 45.35 as he holds records as not only England's most-capped red-ball captain (59) but also for the most centuries for his country in the longest format (33).

James Anderson's incredible career will reach a new high when he becomes England's most-capped Test player at Edgbaston on Thursday.

The indefatigable seamer will surpass his former team-mate and close friend Alastair Cook's tally of 161 appearances in the longest format when he faces New Zealand in the second and decisive final Test of the series.

Anderson, who turns 39 next month and is seventh on the list of most capped players from any country, will break the record 18 years after making his Test debut against Zimbabwe at Lord's.

Stats Perform looks at some of the astonishing numbers the evergreen Lancastrian has racked up, including a staggering 30 five-wicket hauls and at least 10 wickets in a match on three occasions.

Record-breaking seamer closing in on Kumble

Anderson surpassed the record held by Australia great Glenn McGrath for the most wickets taken by a Test seamer when he dismissed India's Mohammed Shami in 2018.

McGrath claimed 563 scalps in an outstanding career but Anderson's haul now stands at 616.

England's record Test wicket-taker is only three wickets shy of matching Anil Kumble's total and will go third on the all-time list when he betters the former India spinner's haul.

A menace against India

Anderson's ability to generate deadly swing and seam has caused many India batsmen problems over the years.

He has taken more Test wickets against India than any other side, with 118 from 30 matches at an average of 25.29 - including four five-wicket hauls.

Fierce rivals Australia are next on the list of teams Anderson has taken the most wickets against, with 104 in 32 Ashes contests at 34.56 apiece.

Lethal at Lord's

Anderson announced himself on the Test stage by taking 5-73 on debut at Lord's in Zimbabwe's first innings back in May 2003.

He has thrived on playing at the Home of Cricket, taking 105 wickets in 24 Tests at the world-famous London ground at an average of 24.64

Only Sri Lanka legend Muttiah Muralitharan has claimed more on a single venue, doing so at Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo (166), Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy (117) and Galle International Stadium (111).

Living on the edge

Anderson has had more batsmen caught behind than any bowler in Test history.

As many as 168 of Anderson's dismissals have been taken by the wicketkeeper, which is 27.27 per cent of his wickets.

McGrath is next on the list with 152, while team-mate Stuart Broad has got batsmen to nick off on 124 occasions.
 

Record a batsman would be proud of

Anderson is certainly not known for his ability with the bat, despite being dubbed 'The Burnley Lara'.

Yet he went 54 Tests innings before being out for a duck, finally departing without troubling with scorers against Australia in August 2009.

AB de Villiers (78), Aravinda de Silva (75), Clive Lloyd and Ross Taylor (both 58) are the only men to have had more knocks without departing for nought.