(MENAFN- Arab Times) COLOMBO Dec 17 (Agencies): Alastair Cook said he had no intention of stepping down as captain after his England side lost the seventh and final match of the one-day series against Sri Lanka on Tuesday. The left-handed opening batsman struggled for runs again making just 32 as his team were beaten by 87 runs to slip to a 5-2 defeat in the series. 'I haven't played as well as I'd like on this tour' said Cook at the presentation ceremony. 'I'm working hard on my game I'm as hungry as ever to score runs.
'You dust yourself off and you go again. I'm captain of my country yes it hasn't gone well over the last 12 months with my batting in the one-day game but I would feel very wrong to walk away. 'If that decision gets taken out of my hands then I have to hold my hands up and say I haven't been good enough but until that moment I'll do what I always do' added Cook. 'I'll work incredibly hard. I'm still incredibly hungry to do it.' While England were down in the dumps Sri Lanka paid a warm tribute to master batsmen Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara after they played their final international match on home soil. 'It's going to be a sad day for all of us' said skipper Angelo Mathews as he looked ahead to the pair's retirement after next year's 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. 'The service they have rendered over the past 15-16 years has been unbelievable. The encouragement the guidance they have given to all of us has been amazing.' Meanwhile Michael Clarke's hamstring surgery had 'the best result' possible former cricketing great Shane Warne said Wednesday raising hopes the Australian skipper will make the upcoming World Cup. Clarke badly tore his right hamstring on Saturday during the first Test against India in Adelaide a match he went into under an injury cloud given his long history of back complaints. The 33-year-old said after the match that he was unlikely to play any further part in the four-match Test series against India and that the injury could cut short his career. But Warne a close friend of Clarke said his future was looking better after he underwent surgery on Tuesday ahead of the World Cup jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand which begins on Feb 14. 'It was the best result humanly possible they could have had for the operation' Warne said during his commentary on the current Test in Brisbane for the Nine Network adding that Clarke was 'looking forward to trying to make a good comeback'. 'It's a better result than expected. Previously the World Cup was a long shot now he's more of a chance given how well the operation went.' Earlier Clarke tweeted that the 'surgery went really well.' Team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said the successful surgery gave Clarke a good chance of recovery from the hamstring mishap. 'The actual injury was that he had damaged the tendon component of the hamstring' Kountouris said. 'Speaking to the surgeon everything went really well. 'He found what he expected to find there were no surprises and he's managed to do a good repair and from that he's very confident that Michael is going to make a good recovery. 'It's going to heal and he's going to minimise the risk of having a recurrence that's the goal. 'The rehab is dependent on how well he progresses from each stage. There is no magic number that ends the rehab. He'll just have to progress through each stage.' Clarke had a rough lead-up to the first Test battling injury and dealing with the shock loss of friend and cricketer Phillip Hughes who died after being hit in the head by a cricket ball during a domestic match. Clarke retired hurt in his first innings in Adelaide as an old back injury flared up. He needed injections to bat again resuming the next day to complete a century. On the final day of the match Clarke suffered the new injury while pulling up sharply as he was fielding forcing him to watch as his team-mates pulled off a thrilling 48-run victory over the Indians.
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