joe wilson reports. it works like this — they stand, he delivers. alastair cook turning the fairy tale ending others imagined into his reality, batting the way he's always batted. through 80, past 90, cook's aim seemed as straight and true as ever before. nervous? well, composure was lost... ..by the indian fielders. one run became five when the wayward throw reached the boundary and cook was there, past 100. in his final innings, his defining image. after this, some may wonder why on earth he is now retiring. it's just time, it's time for me, it's time for my family. and now it makes it even better, it's always nice, people wanting a little bit more than trying to kick you out. to go out on your own terms makes it even better. among those watching today, some who know him as dad, a team—mate who's known cook his entire career and those who came for one reason.

it was history in the making and i had to say i was there. first professional cricket match, as well. your first one was here today, for that? yes, yes. wonderful. it couldn't have been better, could it?! it's good for our fans across the board, when someone who serves cricket goes out on a high. you see all these greats and in the end, they're being pushed out, but not him. i think he deserved it. while england's captain, joe root, made 125, cook eventually fell for 147 and still looked disappointed. his career ended as it had begun, with a hundred against india. well, remember, there is a test match going on here and having respectfully acknowledged alastair cook's achievements, india then came out to bat. and they lost three wickets before the close — still over 400 behind. james anderson is in record—breaking territory, but enough stats... this day was about the power of a perfectly timed goodbye. joe wilson, bbc news, at the oval.

newsnight is coming up on bbc two. here on bbc one, time for the news where you are. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm cuthbertjones. our main headlines this evening. signing off with a century — it's a dream final test for alastair cook as he puts england in a winning position. for that all to happen today, every reception i've had in the last four days, it's just been reception i've had in the last four days, it'sjust been incredible. steven naismith heads scotland to victory against albaina in their opening match in the uefa nations league. and number one in the world —

justin rose comes second in philadelphia but it's enough for him to top golf‘s world rankings. hello and welcome to sportsday. good evening. well, it was a fantastic and memorable day for alastair cook as england steered their way to a winning position on day 4 of the fifth test against india. the former captain signed off with a century in his final test match before a stading ovation from the oval crowd. joe wilson was there to witness it. last week alastair cook said he was retiring because he had nothing left in the tank. as it turns out, what did he have left? 0ne

in the tank. as it turns out, what did he have left? one of his most famous performances on home soil. he was fluent in the warning session after surviving near misses in the third day —— morning session. we saw his cut shot and he was not nervous in the 90s but he was helped over the line by the indian fielders with the line by the indian fielders with the wild throw going for overthrow is taking him to a century. the perfect symmetry was career ending with a century against india after beginning with a century against india. great support from his captainjoe india. great support from his captain joe root who also india. great support from his captainjoe root who also reached a century. coke was eventually out for 147 -- century. coke was eventually out for 147 —— cook. afterwards there were dignified handshakes from the indian fielders. india came out to bat. three very quick wickets for england including two for anderson who needs

one more to go past glenn mcgrath to become the most prolific test match fast bowler in history. at some point england has got to start looking to the future but not tomorrow. not just yet. it hasjust been the most surreal four days of my life. and so for that to happen today and the reception i've had in the last four days has been incredible. in the last few overs where everyone was singing my barmy army song, that was pretty special. it is special to go out on your own terms with your last ever innings, and for that to be a century, and if we can top it off tomorrow with a victory, and a 4—1win over the no 1 side in the world, that would make it even more special. alex mcleish‘s scotland side won their opening nations league match with hard fought win over albania at hampden park.

it finished 2—0 thanks to a major contribution for steven naismith of hearts. ben croucher has more. united we stand with one wish and one goal, the albania national anthem was not designed with football in mind, and at the forefront of their minds was protecting their goal, against a scottish side looking to end a barren run. so give steven naismith a chance almost impossible to miss, nearly. at the start of the second half they gave him another chance. this time. although replays saw that the defender had the final touch. albania's counterattacking was thwarted by mcgregor. steven naismith finally got his reward for a second goal without the goalkeeper insight. scotland are top of their group. they got their wish of a

victory and with a couple of goals. well, england were beaten in their opening nation's league match to spain at the weekend and tomorrow's they take on switzerland in a friendly at the king power stadium in leicester. if they lose, then england will have lost four matches in a row for the first time. but manager gareth southgate is not worried. to play three teams of the quality we have played in the last three matches is a very rare occurrence in international football. we have to focus on our performances, improving as a team. we said the world cup was finished, so if we are going to do that from a positive point of view, in our camp, we have got to do it in terms of the results are moving forward as well. understandably, everybody else will focus on that, or some people will. but we have got to keep focused on the things we can control and keep improving in every area of the game. england'sjustin rose has become

the world's number one golfer after coming secound at the bmw championship in philadelphia. rose had a putt to win the tournament on the 18th but he was so unlucky to see it skirt around the hole. meaning he went into a play off with keegan bradley. rose again missed a par putt on the 18th in the first hole of the playoff to give victory to the american. small consolation, then, as rose becomes just the 4th englishman to reach the top of the world golf rankings. well, rose moves above dustinjohnson and two other american ryder cup players in the rankings with just under three weeks to go until the competition starts in france — the world's top 10 players will all be involved. rose also becomes just the fifth british player to top the world rankings, the last being rory mcilroy in 2015. nick faldo's spent the longest time of any briton at the top with 97 weeks. this evening the american ryder cup captainjim furyk has

selected rookie tony finau as his final wildcard pick. but lee westwood, who is one of europe's vice captains, says having home advantage should give the europeans the edge. both teams are packed with quality players. world —class world—class players. the europeans are playing very well this week in philadelphia. the americans have had their week. we are going to have home advantage. we have played the french course for the last 25 years and a lot of the players will have played it very regularly. a lot of the players have played a lot in the french open. but it comes down to who plays the best over the week. and who makes the most putts. the us open final umpire who penalised serena williams with an entire game penalty has been defended by tennis‘ governing body. she called him a "liar"

and "a thief" during her defeat to naomi 0saka, later accusing him of sexism. the international tennis federation said carlos ramos had acted "at all times with professionalism and integrity". annabel croft was at flushing meadows for that final. she thinks that williams handled the situation very badly. the pressure on her in that match was so the pressure on her in that match was so astronomical because it she is trying to tie this record with margaret court, the overall record in the women's game, so is hejust went into meltdown. when she was up againstan went into meltdown. when she was up against an opponent who was beating her quite significantly and it was a shame because she was beginning to get herself into the match and this situation happened and she went into freefall, but i have to say i think the umpire played it straight. how can we accuse of not paying by the raw book? we would be attacking him if he hadn't —— the rule back. i'm astounded that he has been thrown under the bus. this is not a sexism

i’ow. under the bus. this is not a sexism row. it is a great thing for kids to get into in terms of sport because it teaches you about humility and how to cope with difficult situations and how to overcome adversity and problem solve while you are out there, that is what sport gives us human being, but what we saw out there was a great icon of the sport who went into freefall and then has come off the court. it would have been better if she had come off court and said, i did not cheat, i did not see my coach's signals, i apologise for the way i spoke to the umpire, because it was aggressive and not acceptable, but u nfortu nately aggressive and not acceptable, but unfortunately it has been turned into a sexism row. i'm flabbergasted. i'm sure we will hear more about that topic. that's all from sportsday. this coming up in a moment, the papers. hello and welcome to our look ahead

to what the the papers will be is bringing us tomorrow. with me are the evening standard's political correspondent kate proctor and the author and journalist 0wen bennett. many of tomorrow's front pages are already in. michel barnier‘s comments on brexit make the front page of the metro — the eu's chief negotiator said today that a deal with the uk is possible within six to eight weeks. the i labels mr barnier‘s more optimistic tone ‘0peration save theresa'. the guardian's lead story details new research

by public health england, suggesting that women in the uk live shorter lives on average than most of their european counterparts. the financial times claims the trump administration has escalated its attacks on international organisations, after the white house national security adviser, john bolton threatened to impose sanctions on the international criminal court if it tries to investigate us citizens or allies. police officers are arresting fewer people and cutting patrols because of funding and staff cuts — that's according to the daily telegraph. the daily mirror warns that debenhams could be the next crisis on the high street, following warnings that the chain could close up to 80 stores, risking thousands of jobs. and like many of front pages, the times has a photograph of england cricket s highest run scorer, alastair cook, who bowed out of his last test match with a century. we start with the metro and their

front—page lead about michel barnier. yes, he has come out and said that he thinks a brexit deal is possible within 6—8 weeks which is probably quite good news to some but this is a change of stance for him because he said he was strongly opposed to the chequers deal not that long ago. and we thought this talk of a no deal might actually be realistic and come to something but 110w realistic and come to something but now he is pulling it back and showing that he would like to sit down and have talks and he has changed his stance in a significant way. we will have to watch this space on what happens next for the. why has he changed his stance? his job is to get a deal and if he does not get a deal he has not done her job —— he has not done hisjob. he

is not there just to say no to everything. he's ducking at this —— he's looking at this, and we will come to boris later, how could we not? but with boris luning operated ship bid, —— lining up a leadership bid, they are thinking, well, we know what theresa may wants, and they need to make it look like this deal is very difficult to sign to stop other countries following britain out the door so they have got to play this political game which they have played over the last 18 months but maybe now a deal is coming together. even though he said a deal is likely, the red lines are always... now trashing of the single market which has always been a red line. that is what chequers does, a single line for goods but not