'An epic performance. Nothing deters him. A great, great effort'
Monday 19 October 2015 11:56, UK
Alastair Cook was the star for England in Abu Dhabi with a sensational 263.
We take a look at some of the staggering stats from his lengthy stay at the crease...
831 - Cook beat Sir Len Hutton's record-longest innings for England of 797 minutes during his 364 against Australia at The Oval, 1938. Cook's knock is now the third-longest in Test history, behind Gary Kirsten and Hanif Mohammad, who occupies top spot.
782 - The number of minutes the entire fourth Ashes Test took at Trent Bridge this summer, beaten by Cook's knock.
1 - It's the first double-hundred scored by an English opener against Pakistan.
2,065 - Not only was Cook's 263 the highest score for England in Asia, Cook is also now the leading run-scorer among visiting batsmen - excluding ones from India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka - to Asia.
2 - The left-hander joins Wally Hammond as the second player to have two scores of 250-plus for England, and only he and West Indies' Brian Lara have twice batted for longer than 12 hours in a Test.
3 - It's the England captain's third Test double century, following his 235 not out against Australia in Brisbane, 2010, and 294 against India at Edgbaston in 2011.
15 - Cook is just 15 runs short of passing South Africa's Graeme Smith as the second-highest run-scoring opener in Test cricket. India's Sunil Gavaskar leads the way with 9,607 runs, a mark which Cook is 592 shy of.
What the players and pundits had to say...
Sir Ian Botham: "An epic performance. You just watch him and he goes on, and on, and on. Nothing deters him. A great, great effort. His powers of concentration never fail to amaze me - he wasn't just going to sit there, he took it to the spinners, sweeping them, driving them and cutting anything short."
Bob Willis: "Amazing physical fitness. He is probably the fittest member of that England outfit, even when taking the youngsters into consideration. He has this incredible ability not to perspire, that certainly helps him as well. He never looks tired. Even when he walked off at the end of his innings there were just a couple of puffs of the cheek, nothing like Shoaib Malik, who practically needed a trailer to take him off. We bandy around the term 'captain's innings', but this was just what was required in that situation."
Jonathan Trott: "The selectors stuck with him as captain and he has certainly repaid their faith. It is a good example of the benefits of sticking with a very good player, a guy with a great record, and a history of coming good at crucial times. Generally very good players - of which Alastair certainly is one - have a habit of coming to the fore when the going gets tough."
Matt Prior: "It has been mentioned a couple of times on commentary about his stubbornness. That's exactly what you need as an opening batsman. Another thing I can guarantee you is, he will be gutted tonight. He never has enough runs. I know he wants that triple-century, and this was as good an opportunity as you're ever likely to get."
Live coverage of the second Test between Pakistan and England starts at 6.30am, Thursday, Sky Sports 2. You can also watch without a contract on NOW TV.
