England Test captain Alastair Cook scored his 52nd first-class century in Essex's County Championship match against Gloucestershire on Monday.

The 31-year-old appears to be in good form heading into this summer's international action, which begins on May 19 with a Test match against Sri Lanka at Headingley.

Today, Cook reached 100 runs off 182 balls and after picking up a further five runs, the batsman was trapped lbw by Gloucestershire's Jack Taylor.

Essex were 224-2 in reply to their opponents' 262 all out at the time of Cook's departure.