Skipper praises character as England scrape draw

By Danny Hall

After calling on his team-mates to bat through the final day of the final Test Match, Alastair Cook recorded a century to secure a draw in the last test match in Galle. Cook eventually fell on 118 but his innings was ultimately in vain, as Sri Lanka sealed the series 1-0. Cook's superb innings reinforced his earlier statement that this team wouldn't roll over to the hosts easily, and without the Essex batsman recording England's only century of the tour they could have suffered a 2-0 series defeat - a prospect that looked likely when Kevin Pietersen was caught, Paul Collingwood stumped and Ravinder Bopara run out in one over from Muralitharan.

Captain Michael Vaughan praised the determination and character of his team, Cook in particular, and insisted that there were still positives to be taken from the series defeat.

"We've showed character today and Alastair Cook has shown once again what a great player he is going to be for England. Its been a real learning curve for me and Peter Moores to see where the team is at.

"I cant fault the effort players or the management and Sri Lanka were just the better team throughout the series"