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Alastair Cook looking for England opening partner

Alastair Cook is hoping to find an opening batsman who can "jump out and nail that slot" after Adam Lyth struggled to score in this summer's Ashes series.

England captain Alastair Cook has cast doubt on the international future of Adam Lyth after suggesting that he would like to see a batsman "nail" the opening slot.

Yorkshire's Lyth produced a batting average of just 12.77 in this summer's Ashes series, and Cook has suggested that the England selectors have an "interesting decision" to make ahead of the side's series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates next month.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Cook said: "The conditions in Abu Dhabi will be different to what we have just played in here where it nipped all over. I'd love someone to jump out and nail that slot.

"Adam didn't quite score the amount of runs he'd liked to have done [this summer] but he played a major part in the side - he was a brilliant catcher.

"He's obviously scored a lot of runs for Yorkshire over the last couple of years and he's gone in his first seven Test matches and found it tough against two very good attacks, and yet he's scored a hundred in one of them."

Lyth hit a century against New Zealand in May.

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Stephen Topping
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