England skipper hails Rose Bowl staff

Alastair Cook paid tribute to the overworked Hampshire head groundsman Nigel Gray and his team as England crushed India at the Rose Bowl.

Gray, who fought a brave battle against the elements when the Hampshire venue hosted Test cricket earlier this summer, was the luckless soul in the firing line once again yesterday as strong winds and heavy rain lashed down to threaten the one-day international clash.

But while most were predicting an abandonment for much of the afternoon, Gray and his team got to work the moment the rain relented to get the game started around 20 minutes before the cut-off point.

A sell-out crowd, who had waited patiently for play to begin, were then treated to an entertaining 23-overs-per-side match, with Cook leading the way with an unbeaten 80 as England sealed a seven-wicket victory.

Cook was quick to praise the Rose Bowl staff for their efforts when plenty of other venues would have accepted defeat much more readily.

Cook said: 'First of all, we have to thank the ground staff.

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