Alastair Cook’s remorseless vigil leaves England with outside chance

Nothing that has not happened a thousand times before, of course, but now umpires routinely check for no-balls when wickets have fallen and had they done, Cook would have been recalled. That Malik grounded his foot beyond the line initially, before withdrawing it behind thereafter, brought an element of confusion. No review was asked for and Cook had to go, his 836-minute marathon complete, but not without a shake of the head at the momentary imperfection.

His innings was a masterclass in how to conserve energy in the most sapping conditions. How does he do it? He concentrates for small periods of time, a few seconds while the ball is alive, and then relaxes, lowering his heartbeat and switching off. He doesn’t skip, stretch or practise shadow shots between balls. He would make a good predator in the wild, waiting motionless, ready to strike.

Instead, in between balls, he walks three or four steps to leg, taps his bat once, sometimes twice, and returns to the crease, slowly, head down and gathering his thoughts before settling down to the next ball. Easy singles, and there were 121 of them from his blade, were negotiated with a waddle. He sprinted when he needed to but only then. Bowlers, mainly, talk about rhythm, but Cook has a rhythm all of his own and he forced Pakistan to bend to it.

It was interesting to note, then, the physical contrast between Cook at the end of his vigil and Malik at the end of his two days earlier. The Pakistan batsman, who made 245, did not take the field for the rest of the second day, and needed two treatments on a drip before he could resume on the third. Whereas Malik’s shirt was drenched, Cook’s shirt was dry. And they say genius is forged by perspiration.

It was a staggering feat of endurance and concentration and self-denial, the latter wilting a little only after he had gone past his double hundred in the morning as he began to extend his repertoire. Forty minutes after lunch he essayed not one but two reverse sweeps to Zulfiqar Babar; maybe the sun was making him delirious. He settled back into his routine shortly afterwards, though having made a note to self not to be such a show-off.

These sweeps were not played with the kind of freedom and expertise showcased by Joe Root, for example, early on in his innings, when he reverse-swept Zulfiqar to the fence as naturally as the breathing of air. That, of course, is the beauty of the game: it takes all sorts, and all types, and while Root dominated the partnership with Cook (as well as the strike) in the morning, he made a mistake that Cook did not, and fell short of three figures while Cook rolled on and on.

The day was 41 overs old when Root, playing as impishly and jauntily as the conditions allowed, edged Rahat Ali behind where Sarfraz Ahmed took an excellent low catch to his right. The wicketkeeper was making amends to an extent, given that he had given Cook a second life when the batsman had made 173, although the catch was a difficult one, low to his left this time, after Cook had inside-edged Wahab Riaz in the fourth over of the day.

Wahab was Pakistan’s most consistently threatening bowler, and arguably the best bowler on show, game and enthusiastic, generating decent heat and finding generous reverse swing in the hour before the third new ball was taken. It was during this period that he picked up his third wicket, that of Jonny Bairstow, leg-before to an inswinger, and might have picked up a fourth, Ben Stokes surviving some quick inswingers more through luck than good judgment.

When Wahab was withdrawn, Stokes settled, playing the spinners with conviction, even though there were signs at last that the pitch had started to reveal its secrets, with the odd ball turning out of the rough. When Stokes charged and missed having gone past 50, Malik became the first spinner to take a wicket in the match and Zulfiqar finally broke his duck in his 69th over when Jos Buttler lofted to extra cover.

England’s lead by the close was 46, and they will hope to stretch that and then try to induce some panic with the ball. Only they now can win the game, the ultimate value of Cook’s innings. If not, at least Adil Rashid will get a chance to bowl on the final day in the kind of situation made for a leg spinner. Whatever happens today, though, this appalling pitch has stymied the contest and it has been hard to watch bowlers being ground remorselessly into the dirt; powerless, like archers with arrows removed from their quiver.

It was Raymond Illingworth, in his role as English cricket supremo, who cancelled an England tour match 20 years ago in Paarl, South Africa, out of sheer boredom. There was no one here with “The Illyatollah’s” self-appointed authority, and more’s the pity. Even if the final day bubbles up into something interesting it would be hard to justify the four days of tedium that have preceded it. Test cricket’s supporters deserve a better pitch, as do the players.

Statistical landmarks

263 off 528 balls Cook’s final score. More runs than any England batsman managed on the entire tour of the UAE in 2012. The England captain now holds the record for the highest score by an England batsman in Asia, beating Mike Gatting’s 207 in Chennai in 1985.

13hr 56min Time that Cook spent at the crease — the longest innings ever by an Englishman and the third-longest of all time. Cook and Brian Lara are the only batsmen who have twice played an innings lasting more than 12 hours.

Cook’s innings was longer than...

• The 2015 Trent Bridge Ashes Test match (13hr 1min)

• The first four stages of the 2015 Tour de France (12hr 40min)

• The longest tennis match in history, above, between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut (11hr 5min)

• And it was just four minutes shorter than Bradford City’s entire League Cup campaign in 2013, when they lost the final after four games that went to extra time and a two-legged semi-final