Geoff Cook 'critical but stable' after heart attack

Geoff Cook, the Durham head coach, is in a critical but stable condition in hospital after suffering a heart attack on Thursday.

Durham released an update of his condition on Friday morning and said the club had been inundated with messages of support for Geoff, his wide Judith and their family. Many of those came from players who took to Twitter on Thursday evening with their well wishes.

Graham Onions, the Durham and England bowler, tweeted: "Sad day for Durham CCC! my thoughts are with Geoff and his family,lets hope for a speedy recovery."

Durham's next fixture is on Saturday against Hampshire in the Yorkshire Bank 40 at Chester-le-Street. Jon Lewis, the 2nd XI coach, will take charge of the first team in an interim capacity and be helped by Dale Benkenstein during the Friends Life t20.

Cook has been involved with Durham since their inception as a first-class county in 1991, being appointed head coach in 2007. That season he led the county to their first silverware, the Friends Provident Trophy, and a maiden Championship title followed a year later.

Last season, Cook decided to replace captain Phil Mustard with Paul Collingwood half-way through the campaign. It proved an inspired decision as Durham hauled themselves off the bottom of the County Championship Division One table with a string of victories that saw them survive very comfortably.

Cook enjoyed a long career as a player with Northamptonshire, for whom he scored 23,277 first-class runs between 1971 and 1990, and played seven Tests for England in 1982 and the New Year's Test of 1983.