Alastair Cook

         Yet, excellent though the one by Alastair Cook was, being his 24th in Tests, the other by Nick Compton is likely to prove more important to the team over the next ten months given the challenges that lay ahead. He still has some way to go to match the 17 hundreds Denis Compton made for England, and he possesses little of his dash, but he is on his way now with the almost certain guarantee of an Ashes series to add lustre to any more he might score. Apart from those occasional mix ups, having Cook as an opening partner is clearly a solace to Compton.England’s captain has already given his public support to him as well as extolling the virtues of having a left-right combination at the head of the order, to jog bowlers off their line.Their stand had reached 231 when Trent Boult dismissed Cook for 116, beating the previous highest opening partnership for England against New Zealand, the 223 made by Graeme Fowler and Chris Tavare at the Oval in 1983.It was also Cook and Compton's third 100-partnership together from ten attempts, a higher percentage, for now, than Cook and Andrew Strauss, who made 12 century stands from 117 innings. His hundred here in Dunedin was chanceless, as was Cook’s, though England’s situation was perfectly tailored to his personality and style.
         Needing to bat at least five sessions to save the match, after conceding a first innings deficit of 293, it was if the spec had been written specially for him, his strengths being patience and an organised mind used to plotting long innings. The Ashes is the currency that counts most to England supporters and there are two back-to-back series before the January 12 next year.
When they are fit, Australia possess several potent new ball bowlers so it is essential to have a good and settled pair of openers, something Compton’s hundred here, in his fifth Test, will go some way to creating after his limboland of scores between 30 and 60.It is no guarantee of success but his century should help ease the tension that seems both a natural part of his personality as well as a rite of passage for most late starters like him, forever worrying whether they are quite good enough until that big score comes along