What Alastair Cook did here , particularly in the first hour of his innings , was spot-on . That has to be his template from now on and if he carries on the way he has played here in Grenada , those hundreds will come again . This was really encouraging for the England captain but ultimately hugely frustrating because he couldn ’ t push on to that all-important hundred . Cook ’ s problem has been opponents stopping him scoring in areas where he has always been prolific . He has struggled when he has looked to make runs with shots that he rarely employed before . Alastair Cook 's innings into day three in Grenada was spot on , particularly the first hour of it . Cook worked his way to an encouraging 50 but frustratingly was out playing Shannon Gabriel on for 76 . Yet it is nonsense to say a batsman who has hit 25 Test hundreds can not drive the ball . Of course he can . The key for him is not to play the drive too early , when the ball is moving around and his balance at the crease is not quite right . Perhaps it has been playing too much one-day cricket , perhaps it has just been the pressure to score big runs again , but Cook has been searching for the ball far too early . Here he left the ball outside off stump and made the bowlers come to him , which took a lot of mental strength and composure . The drag-on was always going to be a danger on this pitch but Cook was right to try to play that shot because the cut is one of his big strengths . His eyes lit up when he was bowled a short , wide one by Shannon Gabriel . But the ball just lacked pace , Cook was through the shot too early , the angle from round the wicket tucked him up and the inside edge came into play . He can not admonish himself for playing at the delivery . Boy , do I admire Cook ’ s fortitude and the concentration he showed on that sluggish pitch with an incredibly slow outfield . The England captain hits behind square on the onside as Jermaine Blackwood ducks for cover . Cook left the ball outside off stump and made the bowlers come to him , but drove when the option arose . He is stronger mentally than anyone he will face , so he just has to carry on showing the same discipline . The bowlers will become bored before he does . The fact is , 76 here was pretty much worth a hundred in these day-three conditions , but sadly for Cook that is not how the record books will show it . The England captain was aided by the fact the ball did not swing much for West Indies , because it is the moving delivery that has caused him so many problems . It is to Cook ’ s credit that he has not looked under pressure in this second Test and his recent statistics — four scores of 70-plus in his last seven Test innings — are absolutely fine for a normal human being . The problem for him is that until the age of 28 he wasn ’ t normal ; he was an absolute run machine . Cook 's off stump is rattled after a wide delivery from Gabriel found the inside edge . The skipper shows his frustration as his impressive innings to this point is cut short . Gabriel celebrates after Cook 's eyes lit but the ball just lacked pace and he was through the shot too early . West Indies celebrate the breakthrough but Cook can not admonish himself for playing at the delivery . Cook just has to put that one key statistic to bed and finally reach three figures , then move on with such a big summer ahead . His inability to do so means we are still talking about how long it ’ s been since his last Test century but there were good signs here . Meanwhile , Jonathan Trott still looked a little frenetic at the start of his innings , certainly for those first 10 to 15 runs when he was searching for the ball and driving when he did not need to . Jonathan Trott drives during his first innings of 59 , which started day three somewhat frenetically . Cook congratulates a smiling Trott after his fellow opener reached his 50 milestone in the morning session . Yet as his innings progressed , he looked calmer and it was significant when he started walking off towards square leg between deliveries . He was in his little bubble again and it showed me that he was back . Trott has obviously been through a heck of a lot , has looked anxious and wants to prove the point that he belongs back with England and that he can open the batting in Tests . The more he played , the more he looked like Jonathan Trott . Trott looked calmer as his innings went on but Devendra Bishoo found his edge before he could go on with it . Trott leaves the field at St George 's - on St George 's Day - after an opening partnership of 125 runs .
Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott put on an opening partnership of 59 . Cook scored an encouraging 76 before playing a wide ball onto his stumps . The England captain made the bowlers come to him and looked solid . Trott was first out for 125 but appeared increasingly comfortable .