Alastair Cook ready for England ‘mourning period’ but rules out return

• Retiring opener insists he will not be tempted back to Tests
• Cook: ‘It’s final – I’ve done my bit for England’

Alastair Cook expects to enter a period of mourning once his Test career comes to an end at the Oval but the opener has already ruled out being talked back into the whites of his country in future, insisting: “I have done my bit.”

Speaking before his 161st and final Test starting on Friday, a match in which Joe Root’s side will look to wrap up a 4-1 series victory over India and move to No 4 in the rankings, Cook joked that one close friend contacted him just to check he was still alive, such has been the outpouring of tributes following news of his retirement.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2NSZ2Do