CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh — Proud new father Alastair Cook will become England’s most capped Test cricketer Thursday when he leads his country into battle against Bangladesh, only days after attending his daughter’s birth back home.
Cook, widely tipped eventually to become Test cricket’s highest run-scorer, will win his 134th cap at the start in Chittagong of a two-match series in which England will hope to maintain a perfect Test record against the host.
Along with Australia, England is one of only two teams to have won all of its Test matches against Bangladesh since the former East Pakistan joined cricket’s top table 16 years ago.
And after an impressive victory in the preceding one-day series, England will fancy its chances of extending that 100 percent record with the likes of Cook and fast bowler Stuart Broad back in the mix.
Cook, who no longer plays ODI cricket, had been acclimatizing with his teammates in Bangladesh before flying home last week for the birth of his second daughter.
After arriving back in Bangladesh Monday, Cook took part in nets Tuesday and then spoke of his pride at becoming a father again as well as his mixed emotions at returning to the fray so soon.
“Yeah it was a proud day ... as you can imagine, having another daughter and then leaving so soon afterwards doesn’t make you feel like the best husband or father in the world,” he told Britain’s Sky Sports.
The 31-year-old’s last outing in the subcontinent saw him lead England to an outstanding series win over India in 2012, while he scored 173 on his only previous Test in Chittagong in 2010.
That series saw Cook captain England for the first time before he took over full-time from Andrew Strauss.
Cook, who will overtake Alec Stewart at the top of the list of Test appearances, could well be joined at the top of the order by a debutant after Ben Duckett and Haseeb Hameed both made strong cases for a call-up.
His most recent opening partner Alex Hales has decided to sit out the tour for security reasons, following the lead set by England’s limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan.
Bangladesh has picked four spinners and just two seamers in its 14-man squad as it tries and overcome the loss of its star pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman, who is recuperating from surgery on his shoulder.
Although Bangladesh is a vastly improved ODI side, it is struggling to compete against the best in Test matches and its coach Chandika Hathurusinghe has acknowledged a lack of quality bowlers. — AP
