Alastair Cook hits hundred for England as Lions fight back against Australia

Alastair Cook warmed up for the first Ashes Test with a determined hundred as England dominated the opening day of their warm-up match against Warwickshire.
The Essex left-hander hit a timely 124 at Edgbaston to help England reach 217 for four at tea in their three-day match.
Cook hit 21 boundaries in an innings spanning nearly four hours to ensure he will report for duty against Australia in Cardiff next week in prime form having also hit 160 on his previous England appearance in the second Test against West Indies in May.
Put into bat by a Warwickshire side missing Ian Bell, who is captaining England Lions against Australia at Worcester, Neil Carter and injured overseas player Jeetan Patel, England made a solid start with Cook and captain Andrew Strauss forging a 61-run opening stand.
That partnership was broken by seamer Naqaash Tahir, who tempted Strauss into driving at a full-length ball which flew to Rikki Clarke at second slip. Strauss had already been given one reprieve when he was dropped by Tony Frost at second slip after edging left-arm seamer Keith Barker on 20.
But Strauss failed to exploit that escape and added just 11 more runs before falling, only for Cook to team up with Essex team-mate Ravi Bopara in a 101-run partnership which guided England into mid-afternoon.
Bopara must have sensed his third England century of the summer having scored two against West Indies earlier this summer after easing to 43 without any great concern. Perhaps lulled into complacency by a flat-looking surface, Bopara attempted to attack Irish seamer Boyd Rankin but mis-timed a pull and was caught at deep mid-wicket prompting him to furiously stomp off towards the dressing room.
Tempted by the short boundary on offer, Kevin Pietersen must have been similarly confident of making an impression in his final opportunity before the start of the Ashes. But after struggling for 13 minutes at the crease to score one, Pietersen fell four overs later when he pushed at all-rounder Rikki Clarke and gave a catch to second slip.
Cook followed just two overs before the tea interval when he edged Jonathan Trott's medium pace behind to allow England's middle order an opportunity for important match practice on a good batting wicket.
At Worcester, Graham Onions and Tim Bresnan led an England Lions fightback as Australia lost four wickets for 32 runs during the afternoon session at New Road.
The Australians looked set to register a sizeable total in their final game before the first Ashes Test at Cardiff as Simon Katich and Mike Hussey shared a third-wicket stand of 141 in 29 overs. But then the dismissal of Katich for 95 made off 122 balls, pulling a leg-stump delivery from Steve Harmison to Onions at fine leg, sparked an upturn in the Lions fortunes.
Bresnan had looked innocuous during the morning session but his first ball back in the attack accounted for Michael Clarke (4) who drove to Adil Rashid at backward point.
Onions collected his second wicket of the innings when Marcus North chopped onto his stumps after making only a single.
Then Bresnan struck again as wicketkeeper Brad Haddin (seven) was trapped lbw although replays suggested the ball may have missed his leg stump.
The situation could have been more precarious for Australia when Hussey on 75 offered a caught-and-bowled chance to Sajid Mahmood. But the Lancashire paceman spilled the straightforward opportunity and Hussey remained undefeated at tea on 82 out of 215 for six off 55 overs.
It was a welcome return to form for Hussey who has been chronically out of touch at Test level and managed just one century in his last 31 innings.
Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, had elected to bat on winning the toss and his side were given a searching examination by Harmison and Onions on a muggy morning. The Durham pair are looking to stake a late claim to be included in the England squad for the first Ashes Test which will be announced on Sunday.
Harmison made the first breakthrough when Hughes on seven fended a short ball off the handle of his bat to Joe Denly at gulley. His dismissal brought in Ponting but he struggled before he was out to Onions for only a single. He tried to force Onions off the back foot and fell to a head-high catch by Vikram Solanki at first slip.
The wicket appeared to flatten out and Katich and Hussey were relatively untroubled as they effected a recovery as their 100 partnership was completed in 23 overs. Katich had a let-off on 37 when he mistimed a pull at Mahmood and Onions at leg slip failed to get his hands onto a difficult head high chance as the ball sped away to the boundary.
The initial stages of the afternoon session produced a flurry of boundaries but then came the Lions revival.
Source:The times