Alastair Cook: records tumble as England captain scores 263

England captain Alastair Cook was finally out for 263 on the fourth afternoon of the first Test between England and Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, but not before he sent records tumbling with a gargantuan innings that lasted 528 balls and 836 minutes.

Here's how his innings ranks:

• It was the third longest innings of all time, behind Hanif Mohammad who scored 337 for Pakistan against the West Indies in 1958 (970 minutes) and Gary Kirsten's 275 for South Africa against England in 1999, which lasted 878 minutes. Cook is the only man to feature twice in the top ten. His 294 against India in 2011 is also on the list.
• The innings lasted an hour longer than last summer's fourth Ashes Test between England and Australia, which England won before lunch on the third day. It also lasted longer than England's rugby and football teams recent World Cup campaigns, combined.
• It was Cook's third double century for England, drawing him level with Kevin Pietersen. Only Len Hutton (four) and Wally Hammond (seven) have more for England – although he has some way to go to catch Don Bradman who reached the 200 mark 12 times in his career.
• Cook recorded the highest score by an England batsman in Asia, surpassing Mike Gatting's 207 against India in Madras in 1985. He also overtook South African Jacques Kallis and has now scored more Test runs in Asia (2,065) than any other non-Asian batsman.
• It took him past his predecessor Andrew Strauss in the list of highest-scoring England captains. He is now third in the list with 3,380 runs as skipper, behind Graham Gooch (3,582) and Atherton (3,815).

Adil Rashid: how his nightmare debut bowling figures rank

14 October

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

England bowler Adil Rashid suffered humiliation in Abu Dhabi as he recorded the worst-ever bowling figures by a debutant in the first Test against Pakistan, who eventually declared their first innings at 523-8, after Shoaib Malik made 245.

Leg-spinner Rashid ended with dire figures of 0-163 from 34 overs. He did, however, bowl more overs than any other member of the England attack, while fellow spinner Moeen Ali fared little better and finished with 0-121.

Here's how Rashid's figures rank:

• He became the first bowler to be wicketless and concede more than 150 runs on debut. The previous holder of the worst debut figures was Bryce McGain of Australia who finished with 0-149 against South Africa in 2009. The match finished in a draw, with South Africa batting only once, and McGain was never picked by Australia again
• He avoided recording England's worst-ever bowling figures by just six runs. In 1951 Tich Freedman, another wrist spinner, took 0-169 against South Africa at the Oval back in 1929. Ominously for Rashid, those figures were the last ever recorded in a Test by Freeman, whose career came to an end after 12 Tests in which he took 66 wickets at an average of 25.86.
• But he did set a post-War record. Until this Test the worst figures for an English bowler belonged to spinner Pat Pocock, who recorded 0-152 against the West Indies in Kingston in 1974.
• He is not much worse than Shane Warne. The greatest leg-spinner of them all did not enjoy much of a debut, and finished with 1-150 against India in Sydney in 1992. He did not take another wicket in his next three innings either and at one point his Test figures read: 1-335 off 90 overs. Of course things improved for Warne and he ended his career with 708 Test wickets.
• He was a long way off the worst ever figures. Pakistan elected to declare their innings on 523, which is more than the West Indies did against Pakistan in 1958, when Garfield Sobers hit a record 365 not out and the home side eventually called it a day on 790-3. Sobers was lauded, but spare a thought for seam bowler Khan Mohammad who pounded in for 54 overs and ended up with figures of 0-259.