Alastair Cook
Encyclopedia
Alastair Nathan Cook, MBE
(born 25 December 1984) is an English international cricket
player. He is a left-handed opening batsman who plays county cricket
for Essex
and International cricket for England, where he is their ODI captain. 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 become the youngest Englishman to reach 1,000, 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
. He is also the only Englishman to score seven Test centuries before his 23rd birthday.
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, 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.
Cook was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours
.
, Gloucestershire, Alastair Cook is one of several players of mixed Anglo-Welsh heritage to play for England; his mother Stephanie is a teacher from Swansea
, while his father Graham worked as a BT engineer as well as being a village cricketer. Cook is a keen musician. By the age of eight he was learning the clarinet
and joined St Paul's Cathedral Choir School
as a chorister
where he boarded under a rigorous schedule of rehearsals, whilst also learning the clarinet. 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, 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 honourary life member.
Cook's musical flair led to him being granted a scholarship to Bedford School
when he was 13, also as a boarder. While being educated in Bedford he also learned to play piano and saxophone. 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. 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 as well as being president of the music society. He also gained three A-Levels and nine GCSEs in his time there. 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. After his international success, Cook returned for an Old Boys match at Bedford in 2008, playing for the HM Ultimate XI.
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. 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
. In the six innings he participated in, he quickly racked up three half centuries at an average of 47.80. Having solidified his place as opener in the county team, he made his maiden first-class century
against Leicestershire
in May 2004 with 126 opposite Jefferson's 128 for a 265 opening stand, Essex's third highest 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. 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 days after being awarded PCA Young Cricketer of the Year. 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. 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. The end of the season saw Cook finish with an average of 48.03 in the County Championship, hitting four centuries.
appearance, scoring only nine runs. 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
and he made a similar century/duck appearance in the (formerly C&G) Friends Provident Trophy during his 5 matches averaging 38.4.
The back to back Totesport/Pro40 champions saw Cook make only one appearance in that competition, scoring 81 not out
, 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. 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 and a disappointing 15 in his one Twenty20 match. Given time off the South Africa One-Day series, Cook favoured better in the FP Trophy with 45.3 from 3 matches including contributing the second highest in the final at Lord's
to seal the trophy.
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. 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. 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. 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.
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. 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. Despite averaging 49 from these four games, Cook felt he was a long way from the international squad. 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 but without Cook and Bopara, the team were knocked out after two successive losses.
for their tour of South Africa. After it was decided Samit Patel
had enough responsibility batting and bowling, Cook was appointed captain of the team the following year, 2004. 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, and continued a 100% win record with 87 over eventual winners Pakistan before falling short in the semi-final against the West Indies. He went on from there to captain them in a U19 Test win over Bangladesh before taking the One-Day series too. 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. 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. 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.
and Owais Shah
, to the England team's tour of India to replace captain Michael Vaughan
who was suffering from a knee injury and opener Marcus Trescothick
who was suffering from stress. 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
. The second innings would prove to cement him in cricket history as he went on to score 104 not out before England declared, making him the sixteenth Englishman to score a century on his debut Test and an even more exclusive list of five to score 100 and 50 in their first Test. His hundred was also the 3,000th century in Test cricket. 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. After a mediocre outing in the losing second Test, scoring 17 and 2, he missed the Third Test due to a stomach illness and was omitted from the one-day series.
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. Cook and Trescothick put on 127 in their partnership as Trescothick made a century while Cook later stumbled just before at 89; 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. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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. This score secured Cook's tally of runs, 403, as the second highest scorer for England and third overall in the series. Once again Cook was overlooked in the one day series. 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.
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. 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. 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. With only three other batsmen scoring double figures, England lost the Test and the Ashes and despite only having an average of 27.6 runs, 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
.
against Australia and the 2007 World Cup
, 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. 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. Cook was selected for his first Twenty20 International against the West Indies, in a losing effort where he scored 15 runs from 16 balls. This was followed by a disappointing one-day series for Cook, and England, who averaged 22 in 3 matches.
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. 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
. 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. After two ducks, Cook was dropped in the final, decisive match.
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 and went on to be the second highest scoring batsmen in the series behind Chamara Silva
with 155. Cook also picked up his first ODI Man of The Match award in the fourth game. 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. Up until this tour, Cook had held a strange record of having more Test centuries than half centuries 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, yet maintained an average in the low forties.
and Cook made a great start in the warm up matches, making a half century followed by an unbeaten
138 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. 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. 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. 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 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
, 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. 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 and again in the first innings of the third Test. 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, 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; 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.
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 which was his only score over fifty from the four innings in England's successful series.
His poor form in the long format led to him being omitted for the Twenty20 series and all but the final one-day match.
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 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. Cook fell in one innings of each Test between fifty and a hundred, amassing the considerable average of 47 for the series.
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
. 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.
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. 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 but contrasted that with a duck in the next tour match. Similarly, in the First Test he scored four and another duck. 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. 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. Strauss was bowled first for 169 as Cook reached the nineties but fell shortly thereafter for 94. 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. During this innings, Cook also became the youngest Englishman to pass 3,000 Test runs.
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. After the second day of play was completely washed out, Cook recorded his first Test 150 and subsequently his then highest score of 160.
, 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. 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, Cook initially scored faster than Strauss but fell short of another Lord's century, trapped again by Johnson for 95. 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 but providing enough for England to cement their first victory over Australia at Lord's
since 1934 and second since 1896.
After this high, the series took a severe downturn for Cook as his only appearance in the third Test was a duck. 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. During the fortnight break Cook was among a quintet of players released into the County Championship to increase their form alongside. 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. 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.
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, Cook was handed the captaincy after Paul Collingwood picked up an injury prior to the second match but led them to an 84 run loss after posting only 26. In the second Test he scored a patient 118 after being saved by a third umpire referral at 64. This, along with a century from Ian Bell, gave England their only Test win of the drawn series with an innings margin. 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".
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. 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. In the second Test, Cook scored the winning runs in a nine wicket win, having scored another century. 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.
After a successful tour of Bangladesh, they came to tour England
with Strauss returning as captain and Cook being omitted once more for the short format. 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
.
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. 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.
In the second Test at Adelaide
, Cook scored another century, 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.
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. At the end of the final Test, Cook was presented with both the Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards.
, 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. 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 lead to an ODI player of the series award.
and Metro, he used his erstwhile musical flair with the saxophone to contribute to Freefonix
, a CBBC
animated series with music-based adventures. As well as this, Cook has donated his time to various charities including taking part in The Great City Race for Breakthrough Breast Cancer
and modelled nude alongside fellow cricketers James Anderson
and Stuart Broad
to help raise awareness for testicular cancer on behalf of the Everyman Campaign
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 25 December 1984) is an English international cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
player. He is a left-handed opening batsman who plays county cricket
County cricket
County cricket is the highest level of domestic cricket in England and Wales. For the 2010 season, see 2010 English cricket season.-First-class counties:...
for Essex
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...
and International cricket for England, where he is their ODI captain. 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
ECB National Academy
The National Cricket Performance Centre first came into existence in the winter of 2001-2002 and has been based at Loughborough University since 2003. In 2007 following the "Schofield Report" the National Academy was renamed The National Cricket Performance Centre. It consists of a state of the art...
, Cook was called up to the England national team in India as a last-minute replacement for Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Edward Trescothick MBE is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club, and represented England in 76 Test matches and 123 One Day Internationals. A left-handed opening batsman, he made his first-class debut for Somerset in 1993 and quickly established...
and debuted with a century. Debuting at 21 years of age, Cook went on to become the youngest Englishman to reach 1,000, 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
Bangladeshi cricket team
The Bangladesh national cricket team is a national cricket team representing Bangladesh. The team is administered by the Bangladesh Cricket Board . Bangladesh is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status...
. He is also the only Englishman to score seven Test centuries before his 23rd birthday.
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
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
since 1934. He took seven catches in the series, including the final wicket, to win the 2009 Ashes series
2009 Ashes series
The 2009 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing and storied cricket rivalry between England and Australia, and was part of the Australian cricket tour of England in 2009. Starting on 8 July 2009, England and Australia played five Tests, with England winning the series 2–1...
. After deputising as Test captain in 2010, 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.
Cook was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours
2011 Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours 2011 for the Commonwealth Realms were announced on 7 June 2011 in New Zealand and 11 June 2011 in United Kingdom to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2011.-Privy Councillors:...
.
Early life and education
Born in GloucesterGloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
, Gloucestershire, Alastair Cook is one of several players of mixed Anglo-Welsh heritage to play for England; his mother Stephanie is a teacher from Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
, while his father Graham worked as a BT engineer as well as being a village cricketer. Cook is a keen musician. By the age of eight he was learning the clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
and joined St Paul's Cathedral Choir School
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
as a chorister
Choirboy
A choirboy is a boy member of a choir, also known as a treble.As a derisive slang term, it refers to a do-gooder or someone who is morally upright, in the same sense that "Boy Scout" refers to someone who is considered honorable or conscientious.- History :The use of choirboys in Christian...
where he boarded under a rigorous schedule of rehearsals, whilst also learning the clarinet. 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
Maldon, Essex
Maldon is a town on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon district and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.Maldon is twinned with the Dutch town of Cuijk...
Cricket Club, 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 honourary life member.
Cook's musical flair led to him being granted a scholarship to Bedford School
Bedford School
Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Modern School or Bedford High School or Old Bedford School in Bedford, TexasBedford School is an HMC independent school for boys located in the town of Bedford, England, United Kingdom...
when he was 13, also as a boarder. While being educated in Bedford he also learned to play piano and saxophone. However, music was soon eclipsed when the Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
(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. 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 as well as being president of the music society. He also gained three A-Levels and nine GCSEs in his time there. 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. After his international success, Cook returned for an Old Boys match at Bedford in 2008, playing for the HM Ultimate XI.
Debut (2003–2005)
Having already been a member of the Essex Academy since the age of 15, Cook was given his first-classFirst-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut for Essex County Cricket Club
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...
coming straight out of school at the end of the 2003 season against Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
; 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
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
in the second. Despite relegation being assured to Essex, Cook still battled away with an opening stand of 122 opposite Will Jefferson
Will Jefferson
William Ingleby Jefferson is a professional cricketer who currently plays for Leicestershire and who played for Essex County Cricket Club until 2006, and for Nottinghamshire until 2009...
in the second innings of his second match, against Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
. In the six innings he participated in, he quickly racked up three half centuries at an average of 47.80. Having solidified his place as opener in the county team, he made his maiden first-class century
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
against Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
in May 2004 with 126 opposite Jefferson's 128 for a 265 opening stand, Essex's third highest 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. 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
Justin Langer
Justin Lee Langer AM is a former international cricketer who represented Australia in 105 Test matches and the current Assistant Coach and Batting Coach of the Australian cricket team. A left-handed batsman, his opening partnership with Matthew Hayden was one of the most successful of all time...
with a catch in the drawn match days after being awarded PCA Young Cricketer of the Year. A further highlight of the season saw Cook help Essex to score one of Durham's
Durham County Cricket Club
Durham County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Durham. Its limited overs team is called the Durham Dynamos. Their kit colours are blue with yellow trim and the shirt sponsor was...
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. 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. The end of the season saw Cook finish with an average of 48.03 in the County Championship, hitting four centuries.
Essex and England (2006–present)
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. 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. He scored less favourably in his one Twenty20 CupTwenty20 Cup
The Twenty20 Cup was a cricket competition for English and Welsh county clubs.In 2010, it has been replaced by Friends Provident t20 as the domestic Twenty20 competition.-History:...
appearance, scoring only nine runs. 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
Duck (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...
and he made a similar century/duck appearance in the (formerly C&G) Friends Provident Trophy during his 5 matches averaging 38.4.
The back to back Totesport/Pro40 champions saw Cook make only one appearance in that competition, scoring 81 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
, 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. 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 and a disappointing 15 in his one Twenty20 match. Given time off the South Africa One-Day series, Cook favoured better in the FP Trophy with 45.3 from 3 matches including contributing the second highest in the final at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
to seal the trophy.
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. 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. 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
Varun Chopra
Varun Chopra is an English cricketer, and has captained the English U-19 cricket team in series against Sri Lanka in 2005 and India in 2006....
's 65 in a 124 run partnership against Lancashire to gain a place in the semi-final. 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
Sajid Mahmood
Sajid "Saj" Iqbal Mahmood is an English cricketer of Pakistani descent...
, seeing the team lose by 67 runs.
Having been knocked out of the FP Trophy, the team turned to the Twenty20 Cup
Twenty20 Cup
The Twenty20 Cup was a cricket competition for English and Welsh county clubs.In 2010, it has been replaced by Friends Provident t20 as the domestic Twenty20 competition.-History:...
. 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. 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. Despite averaging 49 from these four games, Cook felt he was a long way from the international squad. 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 but without Cook and Bopara, the team were knocked out after two successive losses.
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 teamEnglish U-19 cricket team
The English Under-19 cricket team have been playing official Under-19 test matches since 1974. Prior to 1991/92 they were known as England Young Cricketers....
for their tour of South Africa. After it was decided Samit Patel
Samit Patel
Samit Rohit Patel is an English cricketer of Indian descent. He plays first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. He made his One Day International debut for England in August 2008, and three years later played his first Twenty20 International in 2011.-Early and personal...
had enough responsibility batting and bowling, Cook was appointed captain of the team the following year, 2004. 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, and continued a 100% win record with 87 over eventual winners Pakistan before falling short in the semi-final against the West Indies. He went on from there to captain them in a U19 Test win over Bangladesh before taking the One-Day series too. His career with the Under 19 team was cut short when Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Peter Pietersen, MBE is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for England and Surrey...
was called up to replace Andrew Flintoff
Andrew Flintoff
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...
in the main team, leaving a spot in England A's tour of Sri Lanka for Cook. After the 2005 domestic season he was part of the intake for the ECB National Academy
ECB National Academy
The National Cricket Performance Centre first came into existence in the winter of 2001-2002 and has been based at Loughborough University since 2003. In 2007 following the "Schofield Report" the National Academy was renamed The National Cricket Performance Centre. It consists of a state of the art...
, but this was interrupted as he flew to Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
to cover the squad for Michael Vaughan's
Michael Vaughan
Michael Paul Vaughan OBE is a retired cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England. A classically elegant right-handed batsman and occasional off-spinner, Vaughan was ranked one of the best batsmen in the world following the 2002/3 Ashes, in which he scored 633 runs, including three centuries...
knee injury. 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.
Debut year (2006)
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 AndersonJames Anderson (cricketer)
James Michael "Jimmy" Anderson is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Lancashire County Cricket Club and since bursting onto the scene in 2002/03, before his first full season of county cricket, Anderson has represented England in over 50 Test matches and over 100 One Day...
and Owais Shah
Owais Shah
Owais Alam Shah is an English cricketer. A middle-order batsman, he played for Middlesex between 1996-2010, before joining Essex CCC in the winter of 2010. He has represented England in all forms of the games.Between 2001 and 2009, he played 71 ODIs and 17 Twenty20 Internationals...
, to the England team's tour of India to replace captain Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan
Michael Paul Vaughan OBE is a retired cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England. A classically elegant right-handed batsman and occasional off-spinner, Vaughan was ranked one of the best batsmen in the world following the 2002/3 Ashes, in which he scored 633 runs, including three centuries...
who was suffering from a knee injury and opener Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Edward Trescothick MBE is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club, and represented England in 76 Test matches and 123 One Day Internationals. A left-handed opening batsman, he made his first-class debut for Somerset in 1993 and quickly established...
who was suffering from stress. 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
Andrew Strauss
Andrew John Strauss, OBE is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is the captain of England's Test cricket team. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots...
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
Paul Collingwood
Paul David Collingwood MBE is an English cricketer. He has been a regular member of the England Test side, was captain of the One Day International team 2007–2008. He is also vice-captain of his county, Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood is a batting all-rounder, whose batting...
. The second innings would prove to cement him in cricket history as he went on to score 104 not out before England declared, making him the sixteenth Englishman to score a century on his debut Test and an even more exclusive list of five to score 100 and 50 in their first Test. His hundred was also the 3,000th century in Test cricket. 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. After a mediocre outing in the losing second Test, scoring 17 and 2, he missed the Third Test due to a stomach illness and was omitted from the one-day series.
Returning home, Cook was again selected for the first XI during Sri Lanka's tour
Sri Lankan cricket team in England in 2006
Sri Lanka toured England for cricket matches during the 2006 international cricket season. England were back home for the first time since September and looked to maintain their Test standards, which saw them keep their second place in the ICC Test Championship in India, and the teams were also...
. 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. Cook and Trescothick put on 127 in their partnership as Trescothick made a century while Cook later stumbled just before at 89; there was no second innings as England forced the follow-on
Follow-on
Follow-on is a term used in the sport of cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first, because the team was not able to get close enough to the score achieved by the first team batting in the first innings...
but were one wicket away from victory with Cook being targeted among others for two significant dropped catches. 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
Andrew Flintoff
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...
furthering the reputation of his calm, meticulous style of play against the dangerous spin of Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...
who took 4–29. 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.
Pakistani cricket team in England in 2006
The Pakistani cricket team toured England in the 2006 English cricket season, following England's winter tour of Pakistan where Pakistan had won a 3-Test series 2–0 and the ODI series 4–1...
, 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. 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. 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. This score secured Cook's tally of runs, 403, as the second highest scorer for England and third overall in the series. Once again Cook was overlooked in the one day series. 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.
As well as the one day series against Pakistan, Cook was overlooked for the 2006 Champions Trophy
2006 ICC Champions Trophy
The 2006 ICC Champions Trophy was a One Day International cricket tournament held in India from 7 October to 5 November 2006. It was the fifth edition of the ICC 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. 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. 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
Glenn McGrath
Glenn Donald McGrath AM , nicknamed "Pigeon", is a former Australian cricket player. He is one of the most highly regarded fast-medium pace bowlers in cricketing history, and a leading contributor to Australia's domination of world cricket from the mid-1990s to the early 21st century...
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. With only three other batsmen scoring double figures, England lost the Test and the Ashes and despite only having an average of 27.6 runs, 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
Mark Taylor (cricketer)
Mark Anthony Taylor, AO is a former Australian cricket player and Test opening batsman from 1988–1999, as well as captain from 1994–1999, succeeding Allan Border...
.
West Indies, India and Sri Lanka (2007)
After being omitted for the Twenty20 InternationalTwenty20 International
A Twenty20 International is a form of cricket which is played over 20 overs per side between two national cricket teams. The game is played under the rules of Twenty20 cricket...
against Australia and the 2007 World Cup
2007 Cricket World Cup
The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007, using the sport's One Day International format...
, Cook found himself once again in favour for the home series against West Indies
West Indian cricket team in England in 2007
The West Indian cricket team toured England from 12 May to 7 July 2007 as part of the 2007 English cricket season. The tour included four Tests, two Twenty20 international matches and three One Day Internationals...
. 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
Man of the match
In sport, a Man of the Match or Player of the Game or Man of the Series award is given to the outstanding player, almost always the one who makes the most impact, in a particular match or series. The term was originally used more often in cricket before being adopted by other sports. This can be a...
award. 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. Cook was selected for his first Twenty20 International against the West Indies, in a losing effort where he scored 15 runs from 16 balls. This was followed by a disappointing one-day series for Cook, and England, who averaged 22 in 3 matches.
The following home series against India
Indian cricket team in England in 2007
Day OneThe first Test match at Lord's saw Chris Tremlett make his England Test debut. Michael Vaughan won the toss and chose to bat first. Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook took advantage of average Indian bowling scoring 40 runs after only 5 overs putting on 76 before Sourav Ganguly made the break...
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. During the first day of the second Test at Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...
, Cook became the youngest English player to rack up 1,500 Test runs eclipsing the record held by David Gower
David Gower
David Ivon Gower OBE is a former English cricketer who became a commentator for Sky Sports. Although he eventually rose to the captaincy of the England cricket team during the 1980s, he is best known for being one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of the modern era. Gower played 117 Test...
. 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. After two ducks, Cook was dropped in the final, decisive match.
After being omitted from the World Twenty20 Cook rejoined England in Sri Lanka
English cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2007-08
The England cricket team toured Sri Lanka from 28 September to 22 December 2007. England made two trips to Sri Lanka in this tour with the ODI team arriving on 25 September before returning to England on the 15 October. The Test team arrived on the 15 November and stayed there for the remainder of...
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 and went on to be the second highest scoring batsmen in the series behind Chamara Silva
Chamara Silva
Lindamlilage Prageeth Chamara Silva is a Sri Lankan cricketer...
with 155. Cook also picked up his first ODI Man of The Match award in the fourth game. 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. Up until this tour, Cook had held a strange record of having more Test centuries than half centuries 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, yet maintained an average in the low forties.
Decline in form (2008–2009)
England's tour of the antipodes continued as England toured New ZealandEnglish cricket team in New Zealand in 2007-08
-2nd Twenty20: -1st ODI: -2nd ODI: -3rd ODI: -4th ODI: -5th ODI: -1st Test:-2nd Test:-3rd Test:-Canterbury vs. England XI-February 2: -Canterbury vs. England XI-February 3: -New Zealand Selection XI vs. England XI:...
and Cook made a great start in the warm up matches, making a half century followed by an unbeaten
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
138 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. 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. 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. 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 and mirroring his efforts with three even more spectacular catches in the second innings, the first two off Ryan Sidebottom
Ryan Sidebottom
Ryan Jay Sidebottom is an English cricketer who plays domestic cricket for Yorkshire. He is a primarily a left-arm fast-medium bowler. Sidebottom played his first Test match in 2001 against Pakistan, but failed to take a wicket and was dropped for six years...
who then went on to make a hat-trick
Test cricket hat-tricks
This is a list of all hat-tricks in Test cricket; that is, the occasions when a bowler has taken three wickets in consecutive deliveries in Test cricket matches. As of 30 July 2011, a hat-trick has been taken 39 times since the first Test match in 1877, most recently by English fast-medium bowler...
with a final LBW
Leg before wicket
In the sport of cricket, leg before wicket is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. An umpire will rule a batsman out LBW under a series of circumstances which primarily include the ball striking the batsman's body when it would otherwise have continued on to hit the batsman's...
, 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. Incidentally, Cook's other catch in the second innings was also off Sidebottom to dismiss New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori
Daniel Vettori
Daniel Luca Vettori ONZM is a cricketer for the New Zealand cricket team. He is the eighth player in Test history to take 300 wickets and score 3,000 runs. He is the youngest player to have represented New Zealand in Test cricket, having made his debut in 1996–97 at the age of 18...
, a feat the pair reproduced in the second innings of the second Test and again in the first innings of the third Test. 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, 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; 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
Vijay Manjrekar
Vijay Laxman Manjrekar is a former Indian cricketer who played 55 Tests. A small man, he was a fine cutter and hooker of the ball. He was the father of Sanjay Manjrekar....
2,308 record.
Back home in England
New Zealand cricket team in England in 2008
-2nd Test:-3rd Test:-Twenty20:-1st ODI:-2nd ODI:-3rd ODI:-4th ODI:The fourth ODI was marred with controversy. Paul Collingwood appealed a controversial run out of Grant Elliott after Elliott had collided with Ryan Sidebottom and injured himself...
Cook failed to reproduce his legacy of Lord's centuries. Scoring 61 in the only England innings of the first Test which was his only score over fifty from the four innings in England's successful series.
His poor form in the long format led to him being omitted for the Twenty20 series and all but the final one-day match.
Australian cricket team in England in 2009
The Australia national cricket team toured Great Britain to play a series of cricket matches during the 2009 English cricket season. The team played five Test matches – one in Wales – seven one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals against England. The Australians also...
it was imperative for Cook to cement his position as opener in the home series against South Africa
South African cricket team in England in 2008
The South African cricket team toured England between 29 June and 4 September 2008. They played four Test matches, one Twenty20 International and five One Day Internationals against England...
. Again, at Lord's, Cook made his way comfortably 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. Cook fell in one innings of each Test between fifty and a hundred, amassing the considerable average of 47 for the series.
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
English cricket team in India in 2008–09
-2nd ODI:-3rd ODI:-4th ODI:-5th ODI:* 2 further ODIs were scheduled for Guwahati and Delhi but were cancelled for security reasons following the 2008 Mumbai attacks.-1st Test:-2nd Test:...
, 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
2008 Mumbai attacks
The 2008 Mumbai attacks were more than 10 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai, India's largest city, by Islamist attackers who came from Pakistan...
. 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.
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. 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 but contrasted that with a duck in the next tour match. Similarly, in the First Test he scored four and another duck. 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. 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. Strauss was bowled first for 169 as Cook reached the nineties but fell shortly thereafter for 94. 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. During this innings, Cook also became the youngest Englishman to pass 3,000 Test runs.
England returned home, only to face the West Indies
West Indian cricket team in England in 2009
Day 1: Ravi Bopara made his second century , and England closed the day with 289/7. Fidel Edwards took 4 wickets for 53 runs.Day 2: England closed the first innings with 377 runs. West Indies only scored 152 runs in their innings, and Strauss enforced the follow on. West Indies closed the day with...
once more. The Second Test took the sides to the Riverside
Riverside Ground
The Riverside Ground, officially called the Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground, is a cricket venue in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England. It is home to Durham County Cricket Club....
in Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
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. After the second day of play was completely washed out, Cook recorded his first Test 150 and subsequently his then highest score of 160.
Successive Ashes wins (2009–2011)
Omitted from the World Twenty20 competition, Cook returned to Essex for two moderate county matches but impressive Twenty20 games. 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 WarwickshireWarwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
, 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
Mitchell Johnson (cricketer)
Mitchell Guy Johnson is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman. He was awarded the International Cricket Council's 2009 "Cricketer of the Year" award, the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.-Career:...
in the second. Cook bounced back in the second Test at Lord's, batting through to the afternoon session, as he and his captain Andrew Strauss
Andrew Strauss
Andrew John Strauss, OBE is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is the captain of England's Test cricket team. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots...
(who scored 161) set the record for the highest opening English partnership at Lord's with 196, Cook initially scored faster than Strauss but fell short of another Lord's century, trapped again by Johnson for 95. 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 but providing enough for England to cement their first victory over Australia at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
since 1934 and second since 1896.
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....
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
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
to retain the Ashes. During the fortnight break Cook was among a quintet of players released into the County Championship to increase their form alongside. 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. 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
Graeme Swann
Graeme Peter Swann is an English international cricketer. He is primarily a right-arm offspinner, and also bats right-handed. After initially playing for his home county Northamptonshire, for whom he made his debut in 1997, he moved to Nottinghamshire in 2005. He often fields at slip...
to dismiss the top scoring opener Simon Katich
Simon Katich
Simon Matthew Katich is an Australian cricketer. He is the captain of the New South Wales Blues, and also captained, up until the end of the 2007 season, Derbyshire County Cricket Club...
and the penultimate wicket of Stuart Clark
Stuart Clark
Stuart Rupert Clark is an Australian International cricketer who plays domestic cricket for the New South Wales Blues. He plays as a right-arm fast-medium bowler...
. 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
Steve Harmison
Stephen James Harmison MBE is an English cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, he represented England in 63 Tests, 58 ODI's, and 2 T20's. He also plays county cricket for Durham....
'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
Michael Hussey
Michael Edward Killeen Hussey is an Australian cricketer, a left-handed specialist batsman. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname Mr Cricket. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the one-day international and Test Australian teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective...
for 121 off Swann to seal the Ashes victory.
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, Cook was handed the captaincy after Paul Collingwood picked up an injury prior to the second match but led them to an 84 run loss after posting only 26. In the second Test he scored a patient 118 after being saved by a third umpire referral at 64. This, along with a century from Ian Bell, gave England their only Test win of the drawn series with an innings margin. Despite a meagre performance in the rest of the series, it was quickly announced that England's 2010 tour against Bangladesh
Bangladeshi cricket team
The Bangladesh national cricket team is a national cricket team representing Bangladesh. The team is administered by the Bangladesh Cricket Board . Bangladesh is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status...
would see Strauss rested, with Cook taking on the captaincy role in the Test and One-Day teams as, what national selector Geoff Miller
Geoff Miller
Geoffrey Miller is an English former cricketer, who played in thirty four Tests and twenty five ODIs for England from 1976 to 1984...
, "an audition for future engagements".
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. 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
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket...
who was 24 years, 224 days old. In the second Test, Cook scored the winning runs in a nine wicket win, having scored another century. 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.
After a successful tour of Bangladesh, they came to tour England
Bangladeshi cricket team in England in 2010
-2nd Test:-1st ODI:-2nd ODI:-3rd ODI:-First Class: Surrey vs Bangladeshis:-First Class: Bangladeshis vs Essex:-First Class: Bangladeshis vs England Lions:-List A: Sussex vs Bangladeshis:-List A: Middlesex vs Bangladeshis:...
with Strauss returning as captain and Cook being omitted once more for the short format. Later in the Summer Pakistan
Pakistani cricket team in England in 2010
The Pakistan cricket team toured England from 29 July to 22 September 2010. The tour consisted of four Tests, two Twenty20s and five One Day Internationals .-1st Test:-2nd Test:-3rd Test:-4th Test:...
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
English cricket team in Australia in 2010–11
-England v South Australia:-England v Australia A:-England v Victoria:-Ashes Test series:The 2010–11 Ashes series took place from 25 November 2010 to 7 January 2011. Five Tests were played at grounds in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney...
.
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
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
. After surrendering a first-innings deficit of 221, Cook fought back with fellow-opener Strauss and Jonathan Trott
Jonathan Trott
Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott is a South African-born England Test cricketer. Domestically, he plays for Warwickshire and he has also played in South Africa and New Zealand...
. 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
Jack Hobbs
Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....
and Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the two World Wars...
; albeit taking 44 more innings to do so. 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
Donald Bradman
Sir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...
's record score at the ground and several other records were set in that innings.
In the second Test at Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, Cook scored another century, his 15th, which saw him match Bradman in scoring 15 centuries before his 26th birthday (they are joint-second behind Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket...
). Cook broke Wally Hammond's
Wally Hammond
Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England...
record of runs scored without being out and Nasser Hussain's
Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain OBE is a former Essex and England cricketer.Beginning his career in a strong Essex side in the late 1980s, he was an outstanding fielder and a stylish but inconsistent batsman. In first-class cricket from 1987 to 2004 Hussain scored 20,698 runs in 334 matches at an average of 42.06,...
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.
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
Michael Beer
Michael Anthony Beer is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Western Warriors. He is a slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler. He made his Test debut in the final match of the 2010–11 Ashes series.-Early life:...
, 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
Michael Hussey
Michael Edward Killeen Hussey is an Australian cricketer, a left-handed specialist batsman. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname Mr Cricket. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the one-day international and Test Australian teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective...
, 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. At the end of the final Test, Cook was presented with both the Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards.
ODI Captaincy (2011)
Following England's quarter-final departure from the 2011 World Cup2011 Cricket World Cup
The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. It was Bangladesh's first time co-hosting a 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
Stuart Broad
Stuart Christopher John Broad is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for England and is currently the captain of their Twenty20 team...
was named captain of the Twenty20 side and England went into the home series with Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan cricket team in England in 2011
-First-class: England Lions vs Sri Lankans:-First class: Essex vs Sri Lankans:-List A: Worcestershire Royals vs Sri Lankans:-1st Test:Jonathan Trott's score of 203 is the highest score by an English batsman against Sri Lanka, beating the previous score of 174 set by Graham Gooch in 1991. Sri...
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. 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 lead to an ODI player of the series award.
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 TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
and Metro, he used his erstwhile musical flair with the saxophone to contribute to Freefonix
Freefonix
Freefonix is a CGI animated television series about the adventures of fictional band of the same name. To date, the show consists of 40 half hour episodes. The series was launched on January 4, 2008 and was aired as part of the CBBC strand on BBC1. The first 20 episodes aired on BBC2 during...
, a CBBC
CBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...
animated series with music-based adventures. As well as this, Cook has donated his time to various charities including taking part in The Great City Race for Breakthrough Breast Cancer
Breakthrough Breast Cancer
Breakthrough Breast Cancer is a United Kingdom charity committed to fighting breast cancer through research, campaigning and education. Its vision is "to work for a future free from the fear of breast cancer".-History:...
and modelled nude alongside fellow cricketers James Anderson
James Anderson (cricketer)
James Michael "Jimmy" Anderson is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Lancashire County Cricket Club and since bursting onto the scene in 2002/03, before his first full season of county cricket, Anderson has represented England in over 50 Test matches and over 100 One Day...
and Stuart Broad
Stuart Broad
Stuart Christopher John Broad is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for England and is currently the captain of their Twenty20 team...
to help raise awareness for testicular cancer on behalf of the Everyman Campaign
Everyman Campaign
The Everyman Campaign is a campaign that was launched in the UK by The Institute of Cancer Research in 1997. It seeks to raise awareness of testicular and prostate cancer and to raise funds to research treatments....
.
Performance against each opponent
As of 23 August 2011:| Opponent | Matches | Innings | Runs | High Score | 100 | 50 | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 26 | 1 | 1264 | 235* | 4 | 3 | 50.56 | |
| 4 | 7 | 1 | 401 | 173 | 2 | 0 | 66.83 | |
| 11 | 20 | 1 | 875 | 294 | 2 | 4 | 46.05 | |
| 6 | 10 | 0 | 308 | 61 | 0 | 2 | 30.80 | |
| 8 | 14 | 0 | 570 | 127 | 3 | 1 | 40.71 | |
| 8 | 14 | 0 | 616 | 118 | 1 | 6 | 44.00 | |
| 9 | 15 | 1 | 843 | 133 | 3 | 5 | 60.21 | |
| 11 | 19 | 3 | 991 | 160 | 4 | 5 | 61.93 | |
| TOTAL | 72 | 125 | 7 | 5,868 | 294 | 19 | 26 | 49.72 |
Centuries
| # | |Match | |Location | |Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [1] | 104* | 1 | Nagpur Nagpur Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune... , India |
Vidarbha Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground The Vidharba Cricket Association Ground was a Test cricket ground in the city of Nagpur. The ground is known as the VCA Ground and belongs to the Central Zone... |
2006 | |
| [2] | 105 | 6 | London, England | Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the... |
2006 | |
| [3] | 127 | 7 | Greater Manchester, England | Old Trafford | 2006 | |
| [4] | 116 | 12 | Perth Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000.... , Australia |
WACA Ground WACA Ground The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association.... |
2006 | |
| [5] | 105 | 15 | London, England | Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the... |
2007 | |
| [6] | 106 | 17 | Greater Manchester, England | Old Trafford | 2007 | |
| [7] | 118 | 24 | Galle Galle Galle is a city situated on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, 119 km from Colombo. Galle is the capital city of Southern Province of Sri Lanka and it lies in Galle District.... , Sri Lanka |
Galle International Stadium Galle International Stadium Galle International Stadium is a cricket stadium in Galle, Sri Lanka, situated near the Galle fort and fringed on two sides by the Indian Ocean. It is considered to be one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in the world... |
2007 | |
| [8] | 139* | 40 | Bridgetown Bridgetown The city of Bridgetown , metropolitan pop 96,578 , is the capital and largest city of the nation of Barbados. Formerly, the Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael... , West Indies |
Kensington Oval Kensington Oval The Kensington Oval is located to the west of the capital-city Bridgetown on the island of Barbados. "The Oval" is one of the major sporting facilities on the island and is primarily used for cricket... |
2009 | |
| [9] | 160 | 43 | Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street is a town in County Durham, England. It has a history going back to Roman times when it was called Concangis. The town is located south of Newcastle upon Tyne and west of Sunderland on the River Wear... , England |
Riverside Riverside Ground The Riverside Ground, officially called the Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground, is a cricket venue in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England. It is home to Durham County Cricket Club.... |
2009 | |
| [10] | 118 | 50 | Durban Durban Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism... , South Africa |
Sahara Stadium Kingsmead Sahara Stadium Kingsmead Kingsmead is a cricket ground in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It operates under the sponsorship-based name of Sahara Stadium Kingsmead where Sahara is the trademark of a sponsor from the IT industry. Its stated capacity is 25,000, although grass terracing makes up part of the viewing area.... |
2009 | |
| [11] | 173 | 53 | Chittagong Chittagong Chittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading... , Bangladesh |
Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium | 2010 | |
| [12] | 109* | 54 | Dhaka Dhaka Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city... , Bangladesh |
Shere Bangla National Stadium | 2010 | |
| [13] | 110 | 59 | London, England | The Oval The Oval The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval... |
2010 | |
| [14] | 235* | 61 | Brisbane Brisbane Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of... , Australia |
The Gabba | 2010 | |
| [15] | 148 | 62 | Adelaide Adelaide Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million... , Australia |
Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide... |
2010 | |
| [16] | 189 | 65 | Sydney, Australia | Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian... |
2011 | |
| [17] | 133 | 66 | Cardiff Cardiff Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for... , Wales (England home venue) |
SWALEC Stadium | 2011 | |
| [18] | 106 | 67 | London, England | Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the... |
2011 | |
| [19] | 294 | 71 | Birmingham Birmingham Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a... , England |
Edgbaston Edgbaston Cricket Ground Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England... |
2011 |
Man of the match awards
| Date | Opponent | Ground | Record/Scorecards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17–21 May 2007 | Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the... , London |
Batting: 105 and 65 Caught: 1 |
|
| 25–29 November 2010 | The Gabba, Brisbane Brisbane Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of... |
Batting: 67 and 235* Caught: 2 |
|
| 3–7 January 2011 | Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian... , Sydney |
Batting: 189 | |
| 10–13 August 2011 | Edgbaston Edgbaston Cricket Ground Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England... , Birmingham Birmingham Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a... |
Batting: 294 Caught: 1 |
Records
- March 2006: Sixteenth Englishman to score a century on his debut, fifth to combine it with a half century.
- December 2006: Only Englishman to score 4 centuries before his 22nd birthday.
- May 2007: Only Englishman (second worldwide) to score 1,000 runs in maiden year.
- July 2007: Youngest Englishman to score 1,500 runs.
- December 2007: Only Englishman to score 7 centuries before his 23rd birthday.
- March 2008: Youngest Englishman to score 2,000 runs.
- February 2009: England's record opening stand against West Indies (229 with Andrew Strauss).
- March 2009: Youngest Englishman to 3,000 runs.
- July 2009: England's record opening stand at Lord's against Australia (196 with Andrew Strauss).
- March 2010: Youngest Englishman (second worldwide) to 4,000 runs.
- November 2010: England's record partnership in Australia, world record partnership and innings at The Gabba (329 with Jonathan Trott, 235 not out).
- December 2010: England's record unbeaten score and time spent at the crease (383 runs in 1,058 minutes).
- January 2011: Youngest Englishman (second worldwide) to 5,000 runs.
- 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).
Centuries
| One-day International Centuries of Alastair Cook | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |Match | |City/Country | |Year | ||||
| [1] | 102 | 6 | Hampshire Hampshire Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force... , England |
Rose Bowl Rose Bowl, Hampshire The Rose Bowl is an English cricket ground used for county, One Day International and Test Matches. It is situated at West End, Hampshire, near Southampton, and is home to Hampshire Cricket. The design of the venue is set into an amphitheatre creating a bowl, hence the name... |
2007 | |
| [2] | 119 | 29 | London, England | Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the... |
2011 | |
Man of the match awards
| Date | Opponent | Ground | Record/Scorecards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 October 2007 | R. Premadasa Stadium R. Premadasa Stadium R. Premadasa Stadium is a cricket stadium situated on Khettarama Road, Maligawatta, Colombo, Sri Lanka. The stadium was, prior to June 1994, known as the Khettarama Cricket Stadium and is today one of the main venues in which the Sri Lankan cricket team play... , Colombo Colombo Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo... |
Batting: 80 | |
| 6 July 2011 | Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of... , Nottingham Nottingham Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group... |
Batting: 95* | |
| 6 September 2011 | The Rose Bowl, Southampton Southampton Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest... |
Batting: 80* | |
Awards
- 2003
- NBC Denis Compton AwardNBC Denis Compton AwardThe NBC Denis Compton Award is an annual award given to 'The Most Promising Young Player' at each of the 18 English first-class counties. A player may receive the award more than once.-History:...
- NBC Denis Compton Award
- 2004
- NBC Denis Compton Award
- 2005
- NBC Denis Compton Award
- CWC Young Cricketer of the YearCricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the YearThe Young Cricketer of the Year is an annual award voted by the Cricket Writers' Club for the best young cricket player in England and Wales, and has been awarded since 1950. Former recipients include Fred Trueman, Geoffrey Boycott, Ian Botham and David Gower....
- PCA Young Cricketer of the Year
- 2006
- NBC Denis Compton Award
- PCA Young Cricketer of the Year
- 2011
- Freedom of the City of LondonFreedom of the CityFreedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...
- Member of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
- ICC Test Player of The Year2011 ICC AwardsThe 2011 LG ICC Awards will be held on 12 September 2011 in London in England. awards will be presented in association with Federation of International Cricketers' Associations....
- Freedom of the City of London