Ton-up Cook leads way

Alastair Cook warmed up for next week's Ashes opener with a determined century 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 arranged to gain useful practice ahead of next Wednesday's opening Ashes Test at Cardiff.

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 Andrew Strauss forging a 61-run opening stand.

That partnership was broken by 26-year-old 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 the captain 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 eased to 43 without any great concern but, perhaps lulled into complacency by a flat-looking surface, he attempted to attack Irish seamer Boyd Rankin and mis-timed a pull which 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 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 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.