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| fullname = Alastair Nathan Cook
| fullname = Alastair Nathan Cook
| nickname = Woody, Cooky, Chef, Golden Boy, Ali, The Run-Machine
| nickname = Woody, Cooky, Chef, Golden Boy, Ali, The Run-Machine
| spouse = [[Alice Hunt]] (31 December 2011 - present)
| spouse = jade and daisy gentry I love DJ Nourse
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1984|12|25|df=yes}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1984|12|25|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Gloucester]], [[Gloucestershire]], [[England]]
| birth_place = [[Gloucester]], [[Gloucestershire]], [[England]]

Revision as of 22:23, 20 January 2013

For the journalist and broadcaster, see Alistair Cooke. For the historian and politician, see Alistair Cooke, Baron Lexden.

Alastair Cook
Cook, circa 2006
Personal information
Full name
Alastair Nathan Cook
Born (1984-12-25) 25 December 1984 (age 39)
Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England
NicknameWoody, Cooky, Chef, Golden Boy, Ali, The Run-Machine
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
BattingLeft-hand
BowlingRight-arm off break
RoleOpening batsman, England Test and ODI captain
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 630)1 March 2006 v India
Last Test13 December 2012 v India
ODI debut (cap 196)28 June 2006 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI19 January 2013 v India
ODI shirt no.26
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2002Bedfordshire
2003Essex Cricket Board
2003–presentEssex (squad no. 26)
2004–2007MCC
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 87 56 178 111
Runs scored 7,117 2,121 13,974 3,959
Batting average 49.42 40.01 48.35 39.52
100s/50s 23/29 5/13 42/65 9/23
Top score 294 137 294 137
Balls bowled 6 – 270 18
Wickets 0 – 6 0
Bowling average – – 34.16 –
5 wickets in innings 0 – 0 0
10 wickets in match 0 – 0 n/a
Best bowling 0/1 – 3/13 0/0
Catches/stumpings 75/– 17/– 163/– 41/–
Source: Cricinfo, 28 December 2012
MBE ribbon

Alastair Nathan Cook, MBE (born 25 December 1984) is the captain of the English Test and ODI cricket teams. He is a left-handed opening batsman who plays county cricket for Essex. Cook played for Essex's Academy and made his debut for the first XI in 2003. He has played in a variety of England's youth teams from 2000 until his call up to the Test side in 2006.

While touring in the West Indies with the ECB National Academy, Cook was called up to the England national team in India as a last-minute replacement for Marcus Trescothick and debuted with a century. Debuting at 21 years of age Cook went on to score 1,000 runs in his maiden year and become the youngest Englishman to reach 1,500, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 and 5,000 Test runs, making centuries in his first Test matches against India, Pakistan, the West Indies and Bangladesh.[1]

Despite this prodigious flurry of runs, Cook came under criticism throughout 2008 for a lack of centuries; he replied in 2009 with two centuries, as well as a score of 95 against Australia to help seal England's first victory against them at Lord's since 1934. He took seven catches in the series, including the final wicket, to win the 2009 Ashes series. After deputising as Test captain in 2010 and then taking ODI captaincy full-time, Cook went on to play another pivotal role in retaining the 2010-11 Ashes series, breaking records by scoring the second highest number of runs in a Test series by an Englishman, including his maiden first-class double-hundred and two further hundreds, and batting for over 35 hours during the series.[2]

He was appointed as the captain of the Test team after fellow opener Andrew Strauss's retirement on 29 August 2012. Cook captained England to its first Test series victory on Indian soil since 1984-85.[3] During the tour he broke the record for most Test centuries for England, 23 and became the first captain score a century in each of his first five Tests in charge.[4]

Cook was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours.[5][6]

Early life and education

Born in Gloucester, Alastair Cook is one of several players of mixed Anglo-Welsh heritage to play for England; his mother Stephanie is a teacher from Swansea,[7] while his father Graham worked as a BT engineer as well as being a village cricketer.[8][9][10] Cook is a keen musician. By the age of eight, he was learning the clarinet, and joined St Paul's Cathedral School in London, an independent school connected to the cathedral, as a chorister, where he boarded under a rigorous schedule of rehearsals, whilst also learning the clarinet.[8][11] Cook later claimed the amount of focus and concentration required to keep practising while undergoing regular school hours helped with his batting. During his summer holidays, he would play cricket for Maldon Cricket Club, and by the age of 11 he was already playing for their adult side on the Third XI. He played sporadically for them over seven years, with an average of 168 in his final year at a club of which he is now an honorary life member.[8]

Cook's musical flair led to him being granted a scholarship to Bedford School, an independent school in the county town of Bedford in Southern England when he was 13, also as a boarder.[12] While being educated in Bedford, he also learned to play piano and saxophone.[10] However, music was soon eclipsed when the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) came to play against the Bedford XI. The visiting side were a man short and drafted the 14-year-old new boy to play against his school; Cook scored a century.[8][12] Over the next four years, he hit 17 centuries and two double-hundreds, to total 4,396 runs at an average of 87.90, captaining the cricket team in his final year under coach Jeremy 'Boris' Farrell, as well as being president of the music society. He also gained three A-Levels and nine GCSEs in his time there.[12] In his final year at Bedford, in 2003, he scored 1,287 runs for the school, including two unbeaten double-hundreds, averaging 160.87 to take the school record.[13] After his international success, Cook returned for an Old Boys match at Bedford in 2008, playing for the HM Ultimate XI.[14]

Playing career

County cricket

Debut (2003–2005)

Having already been a member of the Essex Academy since the age of 15,[15] Cook was given his first-class debut for Essex County Cricket Club coming straight out of school at the end of the 2003 season against Nottinghamshire; put in to field he aided the first dismissal with a catch before falling short at 13 runs in his first innings but pushing Essex to a nine wicket victory with 69 not out in the second.[16][17] Despite relegation being assured to Essex, Cook still battled away with an opening stand of 122 opposite Will Jefferson in the second innings of his second match, against Warwickshire.[18] In the six innings he participated in, he quickly racked up three half centuries[13] at an average of 47.80.[19] Having solidified his place as opener in the county team, he made his maiden first-class century against Leicestershire in May 2004 with 126[20] opposite Jefferson's 128 for a 265 opening stand, Essex's third highest[15] but failed to secure promotion for the team.

His exploits in his single season gained him enough attention to be brought in as the opening batsmen for the MCC in 2005 season's opener against County Champions Warwickshire. With a century in the first innings and a near attempt at 97 in the second, Cook helped secure victory in a match destined for a draw.[21] The season opener would not be Cook's only highlight for the year, as the Ashes approached Australia were touring the counties and in a two-day match which sadly did not count towards his first-class statistics, Cook scored a double century went on to take the first wicket of Justin Langer with a catch in the drawn match[22] days after being awarded PCA Young Cricketer of the Year.[23] A further highlight of the season saw Cook help Essex to score one of Durham's two defeats of the season, scoring 107 of Essex's 245 before taking his maiden first-class wicket, before taking another two, with his off-spin.[13] Cook played in every first-class match for Essex and also helped them clinch the Totesport League Title for the first time in 20 years.[15] The end of the season saw Cook finish with an average of 48.03 in the County Championship, hitting four centuries.[24]

Essex and England (2006–present)

Cook playing for Essex in 2010.

After his England call up, Cook's appearances at Essex significantly reduced. In the County Championship he appeared in only three matches, making two hundreds and another two fifties in his five innings, topping the season averages with an inflated 141.3.[25] Similarly in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy he appeared only three times and again topped the batting averages, only being out once with a top score of 91 and average of 148.[26] He scored less favourably in his one Twenty20 Cup appearance, scoring only nine runs.[27] In the 2007 season, for Essex alone his first-class average was only 58.8 from three appearances, making two hundreds but countering this with one duck[28] and he made a similar century/duck appearance in the (formerly C&G) Friends Provident Trophy during his 5 matches averaging 38.4.[29] The back to back Totesport/Pro40 champions saw Cook make only one appearance in that competition, scoring 81 not out,[30] before being relegated. They won Division Two and were promoted the following season, though Cook only provided 11 runs in one innings during the tournament.[31] Despite his international commitments Cook managed to participate in at least one match of each tournament averaging only 36.16 in three County Championship matches[32] and a disappointing 15 in his one Twenty20 match.[33] Given time off the South Africa One-Day series, Cook favoured better in the FP Trophy with 45.3 from 3 matches[34] including contributing the second highest in the final at Lord's to seal the trophy.[35]

The 2009 English season featured an early Test series against the West Indies where, despite being in the Test team, Cook joined Essex in a tour match. He scored 76 not out in the second innings before the match was rained off, stopping Essex pressing for victory.[36] Before the Test series he helped Essex force the follow on against Kent in the County Championship but faltered with his team, scoring only 4 in the second innings to lose by 192 runs.[37] After the Test series, Cook was omitted from the one day side leaving him free to play for Essex. He joined them in their bid to defend their Friends Provident Trophy matching Varun Chopra's 65 in a 124 run partnership against Lancashire to gain a place in the semi-final.[38] He and his team could not recreate that magic for the semi-final, at the same location against the same team three days later, after being caught from a fine running catch by Sajid Mahmood, seeing the team lose by 67 runs.[39] Having been knocked out of the FP Trophy, the team turned to the Twenty20 Cup. Making only his fourth appearance in the tournament since 2005, Cook smashed 80 off 56 balls in a vain effort against Kent that was rained off.[40] While his England partner Bopara shone against Sussex, Cook only scored one but made up for this with a 60 run partnership with Bopara days later to put Essex top of the table.[41][42] Despite averaging 49 from these four games, Cook felt he was a long way from the international squad.[43] In his last performance before joining with the Ashes squad, Cook scored a 57 ball century, carrying his bat through the innings as they crushed Surrey[44] but without Cook and Bopara, the team were knocked out after two successive losses.[45]

International career

Youth cricket (2000–2006)

Cook had his first taste of international cricket playing the U15 World Cup in 2000. Three years later Cook was called up to the Under 19 England team for their tour of South Africa.[15] After it was decided Samit Patel had enough responsibility batting and bowling, Cook was appointed captain of the team the following year, 2004.[46] His first call of duty was the U19 World Cup in the West Indies where he guided England through the group stages and on past the Super League stage, including an unbeaten century-each partnership with Patel against New Zealand,[47] and continued a 100% win record with 87 over eventual winners Pakistan[48] before falling short in the semi-final against the West Indies.[49] He went on from there to captain them in a U19 Test win over Bangladesh[50] before taking the One-Day series too.[51] His career with the Under 19 team was cut short when Kevin Pietersen was called up to replace Andrew Flintoff in the main team, leaving a spot in England A's tour of Sri Lanka for Cook.[52] After the 2005 domestic season he was part of the intake for the ECB National Academy, but this was interrupted as he flew to Pakistan to cover the squad for Michael Vaughan's knee injury.[24] After not being used in the first XI he travelled back with the Academy to the West Indies in the new year scoring 101 in a two-day match against Antigua before youth cricket came to an abrupt halt for Cook.[53]

Debut year (2006)

See also: English cricket team in India in 2005–06, Sri Lankan cricket team in England in 2006, Pakistani cricket team in England in 2006, and 2006–07 Ashes series

Cook was included in the ECB National Academy in the winter of 2005–06. The Academy's tour of the West Indies was cut short on 24 February for Cook who only appeared in the first innings, scoring only 6, before being called up, alongside James Anderson and Owais Shah, to the England team's tour of India[54] to replace captain Michael Vaughan who was suffering from a knee injury and opener Marcus Trescothick who was suffering from stress.[55] Unlike Shah and Anderson, Cook was welcomed straight into the England XI and made his Test debut aged 21, days after he had flown in from the West Indies. He made an instant impact, opening with Andrew Strauss and scoring a half century in the first innings before being bowled just before tea on the first day for 60 runs from 160 balls being the second top scorer after 134 from Paul Collingwood.[56] The second innings would prove to cement him in cricket history as he went on to score 104 not out before England declared,[57] making him the sixteenth Englishman to score a century on his debut Test[55][58] and an even more exclusive list of five to score 100 and 50 in their first Test.[59] His hundred was also the 3,000th century in Test cricket.[60] Despite being known for a patient style of play, an impending declaration forced Cook to play quickly to bring up the century; regardless, the match was drawn.[61] After a mediocre outing in the losing second Test, scoring 17 and 2,[62] he missed the Third Test due to a stomach illness[63] and was omitted from the one-day series.[64]

Returning home, Cook was again selected for the first XI during Sri Lanka's tour. For his debut match at Lord's, Cook was shuffled down to third to make way for the returning Trescothick. However, he still walked to the crease alongside his teammate as Strauss fell at the stroke of lunch.[65] Cook and Trescothick put on 127 in their partnership as Trescothick made a century while Cook later stumbled just before at 89;[66] there was no second innings as England forced the follow-on but were one wicket away from victory with Cook being targeted among others for two significant dropped catches.[67] Cook's first taste of victory came in the second Test, guiding the team past the target of 78 in the second innings with an unbeaten 34 alongside Andrew Flintoff furthering the reputation of his calm, meticulous style of play against the dangerous spin of Muttiah Muralitharan who took 4–29.[68] Although not initially selected for the one-day series, Cook made his limited overs debut in the fourth match scoring 39 from 38 balls in a bright spot of an otherwise dour England performance hampered by injuries.[69]

Cook in catching practice during The Ashes tour

At the start of the following series against Pakistan, Cook recorded his second Test century, gaining him a spot on the boards at Lord's alongside Ian Bell and Collingwood, though he only managed four in the second innings.[70] He and Bell both recorded back to back centuries by the following Test at Old Trafford as well as Cook scoring his then-career best 127 in an innings defeat over Pakistan. In what now seemed a pattern, Cook's century came up while partnering with Collingwood as with his previous two.[71] In the controversial forfeited Test, sometimes called Ovalgate, Cook contributed a first innings top score of 40 and second best 83 before Pakistan refused to return to the field.[72] This score secured Cook's tally of runs, 403, as the second highest scorer for England and third overall in the series.[73] Once again Cook was overlooked in the one day series.[74] At the end of the season he was again awarded the Young Player of the Year award as well as being shortlisted for ICC Emerging Player of the Year.[15]

As well as the one day series against Pakistan, Cook was overlooked for the 2006 Champions Trophy squad. However, he was named for the 2006–07 Ashes series touring party and when Trescothick pulled out once again due to stress, Cook re-earned a spot as an opener for the foreseeable future.[75] In the disastrous 5 Test whitewash, Cook failed to impress in the first two Tests, but during a two day warm-up he retired with a century and afterwards remained adamant that he and England would make a turn around in the series.[76] With England desperately chasing 577 runs, or a draw to not lose the Ashes, Cook stayed at the crease for over six hours, lasting almost all of the fourth day to earn his maiden Ashes century (119) before being caught behind off Glenn McGrath just shy of three overs before the close of play. This was his fourth Test century before turning 22, no England player had scored more than two by the same age.[77] With only three other batsmen scoring double figures, England lost the Test and the Ashes[78] and despite only having an average of 27.6 runs,[79] Cook scored one of only three English centuries on the tour and also on 28 December 2006 in Melbourne, Cook scored his thousandth Test run, the second cricketer to do this in their maiden year, after Mark Taylor.[80]

West Indies, India and Sri Lanka (2007)

See also: West Indian cricket team in England in 2007, Indian cricket team in England in 2007, and English cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2007–08

After being omitted for the Twenty20 International against Australia and the 2007 World Cup,[80] Cook found himself once again in favour for the home series against West Indies. Starting at Lord's, Cook found himself among four centurions in the opening innings with Collingwood opposite him once again, being one of only five Englishmen to hit as many centuries in 15 Tests and recorded another half century in the following innings to win his first Man of The Match award.[81][82] After another half century in the second Test, Cook recorded another half century/century combination in the two innings at Old Trafford, his first innings sixty equating to the team's win margin.[83] Cook was selected for his first Twenty20 International against the West Indies, in a losing effort where he scored 15 runs from 16 balls.[84] This was followed by a disappointing one-day series for Cook, and England, who averaged 22 in 3 matches.[85]

The following home series against India saw Cook continue his fine Test form despite England not winning a Test. He was the third highest scoring Englishman with an average of 37.[86] During the first day of the second Test at Trent Bridge, Cook became the youngest English player to rack up 1,500 Test runs eclipsing the record held by David Gower.[87] Cook played in six of the seven ensuing one-day matches, scoring his maiden ODI century in the first match alongside Ian Bell's 126 not out guiding England to a 104 win victory that propped up England's first one-day series victory since 2005.[88][89] After two ducks, Cook was dropped in the final, decisive match.[90][91]

After being omitted from the World Twenty20 Cook rejoined England in Sri Lanka making an outstanding contribution in both forms of the game. Starting with another ODI series victory, Cook battled with a stomach virus to top score 47 in a losing match[92] and went on to be the second highest scoring batsmen in the series behind Chamara Silva with 155.[93] Cook also picked up his first ODI Man of The Match award in the fourth game.[94] After an unsuccessful first Test, Cook went on to be the top scoring Test batsmen for England too, scoring two half centuries in the second Test and 118 in the third match, at an average of 46.[95] Up until this tour, Cook had held a strange record of having more Test centuries than half centuries[96] but this century marked his last until March 2009 and Cook came under increasing criticism for his lack of ability to convert fifties to hundreds at the top of the order,[97] yet maintained an average in the low forties.[98]

Decline in form (2008–2009)

See also: English cricket team in New Zealand in 2007–08, New Zealand cricket team in England in 2008, South African cricket team in England in 2008, English cricket team in India in 2008–09, English cricket team in West Indies in 2008–09, and West Indian cricket team in England in 2009

England's tour of the antipodes continued as England toured New Zealand and Cook made a great start in the warm up matches, making a half century[99] followed by an unbeaten 138[100] the following day in limited overs matches. His style was still considered too slow for the following two Twenty20 Internationals and he failed to continue his form in the first ODI where he fell for 11 as part of an England collapse.[101][102] The second match saw a similar collapse by England where Cook's 52 was the only real contribution until he was run out by fellow Essexian Ravi Bopara.[103][104] The fourth one day match saw Cook and Phil Mustard prop up the innings with an opening stand of 158 before both being dismissed in successive balls, leading to a tied match.[105][106] Although normally known for his slow but focussed repose with the bat, the first Test against New Zealand gave Cook a chance making three sharp catches in the first innings[107] and mirroring his efforts with three even more spectacular catches in the second innings, the first two off Ryan Sidebottom who then went on to make a hat-trick with a final LBW,[108] the match itself saw England collapse in the second innings for 110 with Cook being the only other player besides Ian Bell to make it into double figures.[109] Incidentally, Cook's other catch in the second innings was also off Sidebottom to dismiss New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, a feat the pair reproduced in the second innings of the second Test[110] and again in the first innings of the third Test.[111] His batting meanwhile began its long road of decline scoring no more than sixty in the two Tests and falling for only two runs in the final match,[111] though in the second Test he did secure another English record being the youngest Englishman at just over 23 years, to score 2,000 Test runs – again eclipsing Gower;[112] two days later he recorded his first Test six after 2047 runs, including 233 boundaries, after an accidental top edge and ruined his chances of beating Vijay Manjrekar's 2,308 record.[113]

Back home in England Cook failed to reproduce his legacy of Lord's centuries. Scoring 61 in the only England innings of the first Test[114] which was his only score over fifty from the four innings in England's successful series.[115] His poor form in the long format led to him being omitted for the Twenty20 series and all but the final one-day match.[116]

Cook bowled his only Test over against South Africa at Lord's

With a year to go before the 2009 Ashes it was imperative for Cook to cement his position as opener in the home series against South Africa. Again, at Lord's, Cook made his way comfortably[117] to a half-century before being dismissed for 60. A high team score, together with a benevolent wicket, saw the fifth day bring Cook's first Test over as a bowler: he conceded just one run.[118] Cook fell in one innings of each Test between fifty and a hundred, amassing the considerable average of 47 for the series.[119]

Once again Cook found himself omitted from the Twenty20 and one-day team both for the home series against South Africa as well as the majority of the away series in India, where a string of poor England performances saw him called up for the fifth and ultimately the final match after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.[120] When the Tests arrived, Cook continued to notch a half-century in one innings of each match, but was outshone by opening partner Strauss's centuries.[121]

After India, England went to the West Indies under the new captaincy of Andrew Strauss after Pietersen's brief tenure ended in controversy. Cook was shown still to have the selectors' confidence despite his lack of centuries when he was given the unofficial vice-captaincy before the tour began.[122][123] The title gave him a boost: he went on to score two fifties in the first warm-up match, retiring out in the second innings[124] but contrasted that with a duck in the next tour match.[125] Similarly, in the First Test he scored four and another duck.[126] After the third Test was abandoned due to the poor quality of the surface, Cook was again beleaguered by his perennial problem: he scored two half centuries against opening partner Strauss's 169.[127] He seemed to have put it behind him in the first innings of the next Test, however, as he and Strauss put on a record opening stand of 229.[128] Strauss was bowled first for 169 as Cook reached the nineties but fell shortly thereafter for 94.[97] After two days' batting on a benign pitch, the West Indies declared on 749 for nine in response to England's 600 for six. Put back in with one day to spare, Strauss fell for 33, but, after 38 innings' and fifteen months' waiting, Cook finally arrived at his eighth Test century, and went on to pass his highest score with an unbeaten 139 before play ended in a draw.[97] During this innings, Cook also became the youngest Englishman to pass 3,000 Test runs.[129]

England returned home, only to face the West Indies once more. The Second Test took the sides to the Riverside in Durham where, on a benign surface, Cook battled through the first day. After Strauss fell in the morning session, Cook began a partnership with Ravi Bopara, who had recently been promoted to third in the batting order. Over the first day, the two navigated a slow partnership, both strike rates remaining under 55, but, once Cook reached his ninth Test century, Bopara matched it with his own, culminating in a 213-run partnership at Bopara's fall in the closing overs of the day; Cook ended unbeaten on 126.[130] After the second day of play was completely washed out, Cook recorded his first Test 150 and subsequently his then highest score of 160.[131]

Successive Ashes wins (2009–2011)

See also: 2009 Ashes series, English cricket team in South Africa in 2009–10, English cricket team in Bangladesh in 2009–10, Bangladeshi cricket team in England in 2010, Pakistani cricket team in England in 2010, and 2010–11 Ashes series

Omitted from the World Twenty20 competition, Cook returned to Essex for two moderate county matches but impressive Twenty20 games.[132] Despite being the only Englishman to score a century, or even more than 50, in the first innings of England's warm up match against Warwickshire,[133] in the first Ashes Test at Cardiff, Cook was the lowest scoring recognised batsman, scoring 10 and 6 – caught in the gully in the first innings, and trapped LBW by Mitchell Johnson in the second.[134] Cook bounced back in the second Test at Lord's, batting through to the afternoon session, as he and his captain Andrew Strauss (who scored 161) set the record for the highest opening English partnership at Lord's with 196,[135] Cook initially scored faster than Strauss but fell short of another Lord's century, trapped again by Johnson for 95.[136] This partnership, along with Strauss' anchoring throughout the innings, led England to a total of 425 and enabled them to gain a 210-run first-innings lead, aided by three catches from Cook off James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Batting quickly in the second innings to force victory, Cook scored 32 from 54 balls before again falling LBW[137] but providing enough for England to cement their first victory over Australia at Lord's since 1934 and second since 1896.[138]

Cook took the winning catch in the 2009 Ashes series.

After this high, the series took a severe downturn for Cook as his only appearance in the third Test was a duck.[139] With no second innings to redeem himself, pressure began to mount on Cook for the fourth Test at Headingley Stadium where he anchored himself through half the team before being dismissed half-way through the first innings for only 30, a score which would only be topped by wicket-keeper Matt Prior as England collapsed to Australia's seam attack, bowled out for 102. Though the team batted better in the second innings Cook again was the fifth man out for another 30 as England succumbed to an innings defeat, with Australia levelling the series needing only to draw at the Oval to retain the Ashes.[140] During the fortnight break Cook was among a quintet of players released into the County Championship to increase their form alongside.[141] In the first-class match against Middlesex both he and Bopara failed in the first innings, with scores of 4 and 1, but Cook top scored in the second innings with 64 to push Essex towards victory.[142] Of the five released, Cook was among three picked for the final and decisive Oval Test and didn't start well being dismissed with only 12 runs on the board, ten of them his. However, in the field Cook was part of Australia's first innings collapse, taking two catches off Graeme Swann to dismiss the top scoring opener Simon Katich and the penultimate wicket of Stuart Clark. Working with a 172 run lead on the second evening, Strauss and Cook's steady partnership was ended prematurely with Cook dismissed for 9 in his final innings of the series. Despite this Cook ended the series on something of a high in his fielding position at short leg, taking a catch off Steve Harmison's second wicket in two balls for the penultimate wicket and then taking the winning catch of a leading edge from the defiant Michael Hussey for 121 off Swann to seal the Ashes victory.[143]

Cook made his return to international Twenty20 cricket during the tour of South Africa in 2009–10. After scoring 11 runs in the first match,[144] Cook was handed the captaincy after Paul Collingwood picked up an injury prior to the second match[145] but led them to an 84 run loss after posting only 26.[146] In the second Test he scored a patient 118 after being saved by a third umpire referral at 64.[98] This, along with a century from Ian Bell, gave England their only Test win of the drawn series with an innings margin.[147] Despite a meagre performance in the rest of the series, it was quickly announced that England's 2010 tour against Bangladesh would see Strauss rested, with Cook taking on the captaincy role in the Test and One-Day teams as, what national selector Geoff Miller, "an audition for future engagements".[148]

In his first Test as captain in Chittagong, Cook led the team to a win, despite a strong rearguard from Bangladesh, with the top score in both innings.[149] Scoring a century in the first, in the second innings he accumulated 4,000 Test which coincided with teammate Collingwood achieving the same. At 25 years, 79 days Cook became the youngest Englishman to reach this amount and the second youngest worldwide after Indian veteran Sachin Tendulkar who was 24 years, 224 days old.[150] In the second Test, Cook scored the winning runs in a nine wicket win, having scored another century.[151] By virtue of being captain, Cook returned to England's ODI squad for the first time since 2008 and led the team as an opening batsmen to a three win whitewash with respectable scores.[152]

After England's successful tour of Bangladesh, Bangladesh came to tour England with Strauss returning as captain and Cook being omitted once more for the short format.[152] Later in the Summer Pakistan toured England also. It took until the fifth Test of the summer for Cook to pass 50, scoring 110 in a losing cause against Pakistan. Before then, he had come in for much scrutiny, especially regarding his technique outside off-stump, and many considered his place to be under-threat. His timely century secured his place for the last Test, although he only scored 10 in an innings win by England, further putting his place into question heading into the Winter tour of Australia.[153]

Cook and his fellow England teammates celebrate in the field as Chris Tremlett takes the winning wicket in the 2010-11 Ashes series.

Although there were still concerns about Cook's form and technique ahead of the 2010-11 Ashes series, Cook answered his critics in the best way possible. Following a century in one of the warm-up games, Cook opened his series account with 67 as England won the toss and batted at The Gabba in Brisbane. After surrendering a first-innings deficit of 221, Cook fought back with fellow-opener Strauss and Jonathan Trott. Strauss scored 110 as England scored 188 for the first wicket. With this partnership, Cook and Strauss became England's highest scoring opening partners across their four years together, beating an eighty year-old record set by Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe; albeit taking 44 more innings to do so.[154] Cook was joined by Trott and they scored an unbeaten partnership of 329; Cook recorded his first double-century in first class cricket, finishing on 235 not out, and Trott scored 135 not out before England declared on 517–1. Cook's 235* overtook Donald Bradman's record score at the ground and several other records were set in that innings.[155][156]

In the second Test at Adelaide, Cook scored another century,[157] his 15th, which saw him match Bradman in scoring 15 centuries before his 26th birthday (they are joint-second behind Sachin Tendulkar). Cook broke Wally Hammond's record of runs scored without being out and Nasser Hussain's record of most minutes at the crease without being out, before being caught behind off an inside edge for 148 after over 1,000 minutes of being at the crease.[158]

Cook, along with his teammates in a losing effort, performed poorly in the third Test but contributed to an innings victory in the fourth, becoming the series' leading run scorer after scoring 82. In the fifth and final Test, Cook twice survived being given out by debutant Michael Beer, the first from a no ball and the second (at 99 runs) after the third umpire confirmed the onfield decision that the ball had not carried. Eventually caught by Michael Hussey, his score of 189 saw him reach 5,000 Test runs in his career while in the series alone he amounted over 36 hours at the crease, a world record in a five Test series and an English record even including six Test series, as well as scoring 766 runs to become England's second highest series scorer behind 906 by Wally Hammond 80 years previous.[2] At the end of the final Test, Cook was presented with both the Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards.

Cook in the 2010–11 Ashes series[159]
No. Venue 1st Inns 2nd Inns Match Result
1 Brisbane 67 235* Match drawn
2 Adelaide 148 England won by inns & 71 runs
3 Perth 32 13 Australia won by 267 runs
4 Melbourne 82 England won by inns & 157 runs
5 Sydney 189 England won by inns & 83 runs
Total 766 runs, ave. 127.66, 3 centuries, 2 fifties

ODI Captaincy (2011)

See also: Sri Lankan cricket team in England in 2011

Following England's quarter-final departure from the 2011 World Cup, Andrew Strauss resigned the ODI captaincy and Cook was named his successor, despite not having featured in an ODI since leading the side in Bangladesh. In addition to Cook's promotion, seam bowler Stuart Broad was named captain of the Twenty20 side and England went into the home series with Sri Lanka with different captains for each format of the game.

Cook's first game as full-time Captain against Sri Lanka at the Oval saw England victorious by 110 runs.[160] England went on to win the series 3-2, with Cook top scoring for England in the series with 298 runs in five matches. This performance also led to an ODI player of the series award.

Test Captaincy (2012)

On 29 August 2012, Cook became England's Test captain after previous Test captain Andrew Strauss retired from all forms of cricket.[161] Cook, who captained England in Bangladesh for two Tests in a previous series, took charge of England for the Test series against India in the winter of 2012. In each of the first three Tests - the first a defeat and the second a ten-wicket victory - he scored a century. This, together with a century in each of the aforementioned two Tests in Bangladesh, gave Cook five centuries in five Tests as captain, a record number.[162] His scores on the tour also included 119 and 97 in the warm-up matches. The ten-wicket victory in the second Test was lauded by the media as one of England's greatest victories, and Cook's run of hundreds brought him level with the English Test record for most centuries. On 6 December 2012, Cook became England's leading scorer of centuries after making a hundred against India in Kolkata.[162][163]

on 7 December 2012 he captained England to its first test series victory on Indian soil since 1984-85, as well as overtaking Mike Gatting as England's highest ever run scorer in India [3]

Outside cricket

As well as his successful career in the realms of cricket, Cook also uses his talents in other fields. As well as being a columnist in The Daily Telegraph[59] and Metro,[164] he used his erstwhile musical flair with the saxophone to contribute to Freefonix, a CBBC animated series with music-based adventures.[11] As well as this, Cook has donated his time to various charities including taking part in The Great City Race for Breakthrough Breast Cancer[165] and modelled nude alongside fellow cricketers James Anderson and Stuart Broad to help raise awareness for testicular cancer on behalf of the Everyman Campaign.[166] On 31 December 2011 Cook married his childhood sweetheart, Alice Hunt.[167]

Achievements

Main article: List of international cricket centuries by Alastair Cook

Test cricket

An innings-by-innings breakdown of Cook's Test match batting career, showing runs scored (blue and orange bars) and career batting average (red line). An image showing a 10 innings moving average is also available. Both are current as at 24 January 2012.[168][169]

Performance against each opponent

As of 9 December 2012:

Opponent[170] Matches Innings Not out Runs High Score 100 50 Average
 Australia 15 26 1 1264 235* 4 3 50.56
 Bangladesh 4 7 1 401 173 2 0 66.83
 India 15 28 2 1437 294 5 4 55.26
 New Zealand 6 10 0 308 61 0 2 30.80
 Pakistan 11 20 0 729 127 3 2 36.45
 South Africa 11 20 0 811 118 2 6 40.55
 Sri Lanka 11 19 2 1000 133 3 6 58.82
 West Indies 14 24 4 1167 160 4 6 58.35
TOTAL 86 152 10 7,103 294 23 29 50.02

Centuries

# Runs Match Opponent Venue City Country Year
[1][57] 104* 1  India Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground Nagpur India 2006
[2][70] 105 6  Pakistan Lord's London England 2006
[3][72] 127 7  Pakistan Old Trafford Greater Manchester England 2006
[4][78] 116 12  Australia WACA Ground Perth Australia 2006
[5][81] 105 15  West Indies Lord's London England 2007
[6][83] 106 17  West Indies Old Trafford Greater Manchester England 2007
[7][171] 118 24  Sri Lanka Galle International Stadium Galle Sri Lanka 2007
[8][97] 139* 40  West Indies Kensington Oval Bridgetown West Indies 2009
[9][131] 160 43  West Indies Riverside Chester-le-Street England 2009
[10][98] 118 50  South Africa Sahara Stadium Kingsmead Durban South Africa 2009
[11][149] 173 53  Bangladesh Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium Chittagong Bangladesh 2010
[12][151] 109* 54  Bangladesh Shere Bangla National Stadium Dhaka Bangladesh 2010
[13][171] 110 59  Pakistan The Oval London England 2010
[14][155] 235* 61  Australia The Gabba Brisbane Australia 2010
[15][157] 148 62  Australia Adelaide Oval Adelaide Australia 2010
[16][2] 189 65  Australia Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Australia 2011
[17][172] 133 66  Sri Lanka SWALEC Stadium Cardiff Wales (England home venue) 2011
[18][173] 106 67  Sri Lanka Lord's London England 2011
[19][174] 294 71  India Edgbaston Birmingham England 2011
[20] 115 81  South Africa The Oval London England 2012
[21] 176 84  India Sardar Patel Stadium Ahmedabad India 2012
[22] 122 85  India Wankhede Stadium Mumbai India 2012
[23][163] 190 86  India Eden Gardens Kolkata India 2012

Man of the match awards

Date Opponent Ground Record/Scorecards
17–21 May 2007  West Indies Lord's, London Batting: 105 and 65
Caught: 1
25–29 November 2010  Australia The Gabba, Brisbane Batting: 67 and 235*
Caught: 2
3–7 January 2011  Australia Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Batting: 189
10–13 August 2011  India Edgbaston, Birmingham Batting: 294
Caught: 1
05–9 December 2012  India Kolkata, India Batting: 190
Caught: 2

Records

  • March 2006: Sixteenth Englishman to score a century on his debut,[55] fifth to combine it with a half century.[59]
  • December 2006: Only Englishman to score 4 centuries before his 22nd birthday.[77][175]
  • May 2007: Only Englishman (second worldwide) to score 1,000 runs in maiden year.[80]
  • July 2007: Youngest Englishman to score 1,500 runs.[87]
  • December 2007: Only Englishman to score 7 centuries before his 23rd birthday.[176]
  • March 2008: Youngest Englishman to score 2,000 runs.[112]
  • February 2009: England's record opening stand against West Indies (229 with Andrew Strauss).[128]
  • March 2009: Youngest Englishman to 3,000 runs.[129]
  • July 2009: England's record opening stand at Lord's against Australia (196 with Andrew Strauss).[135]
  • March 2010: Youngest Englishman (second worldwide) to 4,000 runs.[150]
  • November 2010: England's record partnership in Australia, world record partnership and innings at The Gabba (329 with Jonathan Trott, 235 not out).[155]
  • December 2010: England's record unbeaten score and time spent at the crease (383 runs in 1,058 minutes).[158]
  • January 2011: Youngest Englishman (second worldwide) to 5,000 runs.[177]
  • January 2011: World record time spent batting in a five Test series, second most series runs by an Englishman (2,171 minutes [36 hours], 766 runs).[2]
  • December 2012: Youngest player worldwide to 7,000 runs.[4]
  • December 2012: First Englishman to score 23 centuries.[4]
  • December 2012: First captain worldwide to score a century in first five Tests.[178]
  • December 2012: England's highest run scorer in India (866 runs).[178]

One Day International cricket

Centuries

# Runs Match Opponent Venue City Country Year
[1][89] 102 6  India The Rose Bowl Southampton England 2007
[2] 119 29  Sri Lanka Lord's London England 2011
[3] 137 42  Pakistan Sheikh Zayed Stadium Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates 2012
[4] 102 43  Pakistan Sheikh Zayed Stadium Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates 2012
[5] 112 47  West Indies The Oval London England 2012

Man of the match awards

Date Opponent Ground Record/Scorecards
10 October 2007  Sri Lanka R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Batting: 80
6 July 2011  Sri Lanka Trent Bridge, Nottingham Batting: 95*
6 September 2011  India The Rose Bowl, Southampton Batting: 80*
13 February 2012  Pakistan Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Batting: 137
Caught: 1
15 February 2012  Pakistan Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Batting: 102
19 June 2012  West Indies The Oval, London Batting: 112

Awards

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