Cook warms up for Pakistan with ton

Alastair Cook played a near lone and highly skilled hand to defy the Pakistan Cricket Board XI’s pace and spin on day one of England’s final warm-up match at the GCA ground.

Opener Cook was last out for 133 in 269 for nine declared, made on an awkward surface, before the PCB responded with 23 without loss in eight overs.

England had faltered first to 14 for two against Mohammad Talha (four for 43) with the new ball and then 121 for five against the leg-spin of Yasir Shah (five for 75).

But Cook, employing decisive and sure footwork, stood firm.

Aftwerwards, England batting coach Graham Gooch said: “He’s come up with some runs in a part of the world where it’s a bit slow and you’ve got to get into the tempo of the play and work a bit harder. All our guys would like to spend as much time as he has in the middle. But, credit to him, he’s shown his powers of concentration once again.”

Much has been made of off-spinner Saeed Ajmal’s top-secret new mystery delivery, the “teesra”, to be unveiled in the forthcoming three-Test series.

Gooch has significant respect for the bowler, who already has a “doosra” in his armoury and gave England plenty of trouble with that on Pakistan’s Test tour of 2010.

And the former captain said: “He’s the top wicket-taker of 2011 in Test cricket, so it’s going to be a good challenge for us.

“But we’ll wait and see [about the teesra]. Saying one thing and doing it are two different things in my book.”

Cook already had 84 to his name when he offered the first of two chances – a mis-pull for a return catch to Talha – and mostly batted on a different level to his team-mates. There were ducks for Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell – and Eoin Morgan registered a third-successive failure. But, with one more innings possible before next week’s first Test against Pakistan, there are no such qualms about Cook, who added ten fours for his first hundred of 2012, to add to the combined 102 he had already made against an ICC Combined XI.

He shared stands of 83 for the third wicket with Kevin Pietersen and then 90 for the sixth with Matt Prior.

Talha took two wickets in four balls to put England in trouble in the seventh over after they were asked to bat first in the three-day match.

The swing bowler, also included in Pakistan’s Test squad, had Andrew Strauss caught behind with a very good delivery – and then number three Trott offered no shot to go lbw to one that nipped back.

Pietersen needed ten balls to get off the mark, as he had in the first innings of England’s previous tour match on the same ground.

But he was soon driving confidently, while Cook’s outlet against pace was mostly on the back foot – before both batsmen manoeuvred comfortable runs up to lunch off spinners Raza Hasan and Yasir.

The afternoon began badly for England when Pietersen fell in the first over, picking the wrong ball to force away off the back foot and being bowled by Yasir.

Bell was lbw to his second ball, attempting to sweep Yasir, and Morgan picked out deep backward square with a more expansive version of the same shot soon afterwards.

Yasir, in particular, was a test for all on a used pitch which was offering plenty of help for spin – albeit slowly – but Cook was equal to the task.

Prior, who missed the first match with a bruised finger, was also in the mood to make the most of batting practice before next week – and dug in to stay with Cook and keep the tempo up for the rest of the session.

Prior’s was the first of four wickets to fall after tea, though, as he nibbled an edge behind to a diving Sarfraz Ahmed.

Graeme Swann also took an attacking approach, and succeeded with a straight six off Yasir and two fours until he edged another attempted big shot behind off the leg-spinner.

Graham Onions, in his first match for his country for more than two years following a career-threatening back injury, fell to a one-handed catch at mid-on and, when Cook finally went caught behind trying to cut, Strauss decided on a declaration which spared Chris Tremlett from having to bat so soon after recovering from an eye infection. He did not have long to bowl either, before England turned to spin at both ends in conducive conditions and, in the final over of the day, Swann almost had Nasir Jamshed caught behind on eight.