THE ESSEX MAN’S 10 GREATEST MOMENTS

1 MARCH 2006, NAGPUR

Cook was only 21 when he was called up from an A-tour in the Caribbean for the first Test against India after Marcus Trescothick departed with a stress-related illness. He responded with 60 and 104 not out in a hard-fought draw, Wisden praising his ‘compact technique and tremendous temperament’. The template was set.

2 DECEMBER 2006, PERTH

England were en route to the first of two recent Ashes whitewashes but not before Cook kept Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Brett Lee at bay on a bouncy WACA track for six and a half hours to make 114. His second-wicket stand of 170 with Ian Bell suggested all was not lost for English batsmanship.

3 DECEMBER 2009, DURBAN

Against a high-calibre South African attack including Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini and Morne Morkel, Cook ground out 118 to set up a huge innings win for England. They went on to share the series.

4 AUGUST 2010, THE OVAL

This was the first of Cook’s career-saving innings. Five innings against a classy Pakistan attack had brought just 47 runs and raised questions about his selection for the Ashes tour. In the second innings at The Oval, he made 110 to settle the issue. Given what he later achieved in Australia, it was just as well.

5 NOVEMBER 2010, BRISBANE

England trailed Australia by 221 after the first innings in their Ashes opener — but Cook was going nowhere. He batted for nearly 10 and a half hours for an unbeaten 235 — the highest Test score at the Gabba, beating none other than Don Bradman. With centuries from Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott, his innings inspired England to a total of 517 for one and plucked a draw from the jaws of defeat.

6JANUARY 2011, SYDNEY

England led 2-1 going into the final Test, with Cook adding 148 in the win at Adelaide to his Brisbane epic. But he was not finished. In reply to Australia’s first-innings 280, he made 189 in a total of 644. England won their third match of the series by an innings — beating Australia at home for the first time in 24 years.

7AUGUST 2011, EDGBASTON

This was the summer England went top of the world rankings and Cook filled his boots against a demoralised India in the third Test in Birmingham. He made 294 — the closest he came to a triple century — in 773 minutes, then the seventh-longest Test innings. But it would not even be Cook’s longest: four years later in Abu Dhabi against Pakistan, he batted for 836 minutes to make 263.

8DECEMBER 2012, KOLKATA

Arguably England’s greatest series win under Cook’s captaincy came in India in 2012-13 — and his remorseless batting had much to do with it. After making 176 in defeat at Ahmedabad, then 122 to help level the series at Mumbai, Cook compiled a superlative 190 to set up victory at Kolkata. A draw at Nagpur, where Joe Root made his debut, clinched a famous 2-1 win.

9 AUGUST 2015, TRENT BRIDGE

Cook made only 43 in the fourth Ashes Test at Trent Bridge, but thanks to Stuart Broad’s astonishing figures of eight for 15, he was soon enjoying his second home Ashes win as England captain, a feat achieved previously by only WG Grace and Mike Brearley.

10 DECEMBER 2017, MELBOURNE

England were thrashed 4-0 in Australia last winter, but for Cook there was time for one last hurrah. He made an unbeaten 244, the highest Test score by a player carrying his bat, and the highest by a visiting batsman at the MCG. And, in one innings, he overtook Mahela Jayawardene, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Brian Lara to move into sixth place on the all-time Test runs list.