Alastair Cook dismisses allegation of ball tampering in the Edgbaston Test

England captain Alastair Cook has dismissed the allegations of ball tampering during the 3rd Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston and described it as ‘a load of rubbish’. The Three Lions made a dramatic turnaround in the Edgbaston Test after conceding 103 runs lead in the 1st innings and eventually won the match by 141 runs.

The unpleasant hint of ball tampering was made by a Pakistan TV channel after England defeated Pakistan at Edgbaston but Cook laughed off the idea that victory was achieved by unfair means.

“Someone showed me the clip on Twitter of Rooty shining the ball,” he said. “It’s just shining the ball, isn’t it? Let’s be honest: it’s shining the shiny side on his trousers. It’s an absolute load of rubbish as far as I’m concerned.

“It’s a little sideshow and hopefully, it stays there. As I said at the beginning of the series, both sides should be commended for the way they’ve played so far.”

Asked if these allegations will distract the English players , Cook said “It’s so far-fetched that it’s just nonsense. I don’t think it will affect anyone. It certainly hasn’t affected our changing room.

“I think the way both sides have played… there have been little flashpoints, but we’ve been talking about cricket for three Test matches, for the first time in a series I’ve played against Pakistan, and hopefully we’ll be talking about the cricket – good or bad – at the end of this next game.”

Cook also explained the decision to not pick Adil Rashid even though they have a long upcoming winter in turning tracks of Bangladesh and India.

“We just feel as if our seamers are bowling well, and Mo [Moeen Ali] took a massive stride in that last game, so hopefully he can continue.

“Sometimes it is dangerous to look too far ahead. If we were 3-0 up in the series, you could definitely have an eye on the winter. But the series is very much alive, and we want to play well and win it, rather than look ahead and prepare for the winter,” Cook said.

By the end of this summer, England can reach the summit in the ICC Test rankings but Cook preferred not to think about that matter and concentrate on the job at hand.

“I genuinely think it’s come a little bit early for us as a side,” he said. “It would be a great achievement and one you can be very proud of when you finish playing cricket. As I keep saying, there’s still questions that need to be answered. We’re not at the level we were in 2012. We’re still a little bit away from that.”