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England captain: Hashim Amla 1st Muslim Captian of SA Team

Alastair Cook ought to step down as England skipper, says Shane Warne who has described his captaincy in the series defeat by Sri Lanka as "horrific". England lost the second Check by 100 runs after Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews scored 160 the day before to build a commanding lead of 350. 
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 Warne has been a constant critic of Cook & the England captain recently called for a crackdown on "personal" assaults on his leadership. Former Australian spinner Warne said: "On Monday at Headingley I witnessed the worst day of captaincy I have ever seen at international level in  25 years in the game." Opener Cook made only 16 as England slumped to 57-5 on day of the second Check against Sri Lanka at Headingley, though they came within balls of securing a draw on Tuesday, thanks to Moeen Ali's unbeaten century. Former batsman Geoffrey Boycott said Cook's form was a "recipe for resignation". They said: "There are ways to go with Alastair 'Cooked' Cook. Everyone sticks their head in the sand & allows things to keep going as it is & hope they finds form with the bat & by a miracle discovers some tactical brains from somewhere. 
 Warne, the second highest Check wicket-taker of all time with 708 victims, blamed Cook, 29, in his column for the Every day Telegraph. "Two: they steps down from the captaincy to concentrate on his batting.: the most radical of all, they has a complete break away from the game. "Lots of people, including me, think it is time for him to step down as captain." They added: "He is not thinking straight. They is not there. They is confused. They does not know what to do &, because they is in a rut along with his form, it makes life a lot worse. You cannot captain a team in transition in that frame of mind." Warne stressed that his comments were not a personal assault on the Essex left-hander, or an try to undermine his authority. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpOl-F5Hg-u5ixgRIQHadPzAIII3u-6pYsXscrPZkUFU_3lDx-OTCuSbEuKiyKrsdD-sraPO_jjO3iVCJhkNUkxb_7cilj17d3bYRTmM6YoRtBy0_PJml17czdXQf8EhyphenhyphencFkZNM7w12A/s1600/_75877885_alastair_cook_getty1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpOl-F5Hg-u5ixgRIQHadPzAIII3u-6pYsXscrPZkUFU_3lDx-OTCuSbEuKiyKrsdD-sraPO_jjO3iVCJhkNUkxb_7cilj17d3bYRTmM6YoRtBy0_PJml17czdXQf8EhyphenhyphencFkZNM7w12A/s1600/_75877885_alastair_cook_getty1.jpg" width="640" /></a> They said: "This column is not a personal assault & never has been, Alastair. Mate, you require to improve tactically or England require anyone else in the job."

England captain: Hashim Amla 1st Muslim Captian of SA Team

Alastair Cook ought to step down as England skipper, says Shane Warne who has described his captaincy in the series defeat by Sri Lanka as ...

101 Sports: England v Sri Lanka: Tourists hang on to draw thrilling first Test

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In scenes of barely believable drama, umpire Paul Reiffel gave Nuwan Pradeep out lbw to apparently hand England victory off the penultimate ball. 
 
England were denied victory in an wonderful finale to the first Check as Sri Lanka's last-wicket pair batted out the final balls to cling on for a draw at Lord's. 
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The result means the teams will head to the second & final Check at Headingley, beginning on Friday, with the series all square. 
 
But Sri Lanka used the decision review method to reveal an inside edge, & when an outside edge off the last ball landed inches short of second slip, the tourists had survived. 
 
The match appeared to be drifting towards a stalemate when Sri Lanka, chasing a notional 390 for victory, were 164-3 at tea. 
 
But an amazing final session, in which six wickets fell for 37 runs in fading light, saw England to the cusp of a victory that would have banished the memories of their disastrous 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia. 
 
James Anderson completed with figures of 4-25 off 19 overs, Broad 3-43 & Chris Jordan 2-34 to complete a hugely encouraging debut. 
 
Anderson swung the match either side of tea with wickets, including the prize scalps of Kumar Sangakkara & Mahela Jayawardene, in a devastating spell to reduce Sri Lanka to 170-5 with 31 overs remaining. 
 
Jayawardene was caught behind for 18 in the over before the interval before Sangakkara, with fielders crowded round the bat as captain Alastair Cook went all-out assault, chopped on to his stumps for 61. 
 
 balls later, Lahiru Thirimanne prodded tentatively at a reverse-swinger & edged to Matt Prior to leave Sri Lanka wickets down. 
 
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews & Prasanna Jayawardene - batting with a broken finger - appeared to take the sting out of the tourists with a partnership that spanned twenty overs. 
 
England took the second new ball & the mayhem continued. Broad found Nuwan Kulasekara's pads, then Anderson drew an edge from Mathews that flew to slip with 18 balls left. 
 
The door was forced back open by the irrepressible Jordan, who trapped Jayawardene lbw to leave Sri Lanka six down. 
 
Sri Lanka's ninth-wicket pair rode out the next overs, but Broad had Rangana Herath taken down the leg side with the first ball of the last over. 
 
 deliveries later, as Reiffel's finger went up, England were leaping around in elation, but when DRS revealed a thick inside edge, the enjoyment was all Sri Lanka's. 
 
The drama of the final session contrasted with the first, in the coursework of which England managed only wickets after declaring on their overnight score of 267-8.</div>

101 Sports: England v Sri Lanka: Tourists hang on to draw thrilling first Test

In scenes of barely believable drama, umpire Paul Reiffel gave Nuwan Pradeep out lbw to apparently hand England victory off the penultimate...

101 sports: England v Sri Lanka: Joe Root & Matt Prior lead recovery at Lord's

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Joe Root scored a composed unbeaten century as England began their recovery from a dismal winter by reaching 344-5 on day of the opening Check against Sri Lanka at Lord's. In their first Check outing since the 5-0 Ashes whitewash by Australia, an England side featuring debutants slid to 22-2 & 120-4 after being put in to bat on a green-tinged wicket. But Ian Bell (56) & Moeen Ali (48) started the fightback before Root & Matt Prior punished a tiring assault in the evening sunshine. Yorkshire batsman Root, batting at in a new-look top six, reached his third Check century in the penultimate over of the day to finish 102 not out & Prior batted with increasing authority for an unbeaten 76. Both players had been dropped in the latter stages of England's capitulation in Australia. But they marked their returns with confidence-boosting innings, albeit against a workmanlike Sri Lanka attack with little experience of English conditions. "There's nothing that beats Test cricket and the challenge of scoring runs in the first Test of the summer after the winter we had was something that I relished," said Root. "After a difficult winter the way Matty came back into the side was testament to his character and ability." As England began their new era under coach Peter Moores, a capacity crowd enjoyed a captivating day in which the hosts battled hard to wrest back the initiative that Sri Lanka had gained in the early part of the day. With the experienced trio of Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott and Graeme Swann all departed for different reasons, England handed out three new Test caps for the second consecutive match for the first time since 1937-38. But a new era produced familiar failings as their top order succumbed to reckless shots. Debutant Sam Robson and Gary Ballance were caught behind pushing at deliveries from Nuwan Pradeep they should have left, and in between captain Alastair Cook played on to Nuwan Kulasekara attempting to cut a ball that was too close to his stumps.</div>

101 sports: England v Sri Lanka: Joe Root & Matt Prior lead recovery at Lord's

Joe Root scored a composed unbeaten century as England began their recovery from a dismal winter by reaching 344-5 on day of the opening ...