SIXTY SECOND INTERVIEW: ALASTAIR COOK
THE FORMER ENGLAND CRICKET CAPTAIN, 35, ON THE BBC’S NEW HIGHLIGHTS SHOW, RETIRING EARLY AND HIS LOVE OF WORKING ON A FARM
You’re part of the BBC’s Test cricket presenting team this summer. Is it awkward to talk about cricketers you’ve recently played with?
Anyone who says it isn’t awkward is lying. I’m not the kind of person who seeks confrontation. If I ever have to say anything negative it won’t be from a malicious point of view, and I think people respect that. Cricket is one of the hardest games you can play but if I didn’t call a bad piece of cricket as a commentator I’m not doing my job. You’re still reminding people how hard this game is.
Is it easier to talk about the game than play it?
It is easy sitting in the commentary box. You forget the pressures that players are under.
We turn up on the first day in a pair of chinos and a shirt, talking away, with smiles on our faces. The lads have been under pressure for three or four days, training, building up to the game. We haven’t seen all that, we’ve been living our lives.
Cramming the best of a day’s cricket into one hour must be difficult…
A good highlights package tells the story of the day, the whole narrative of it, the ups and downs – and that’s a lot in six or seven hours of Test cricket!
What is it like for players to play in front of empty stands?
It won’t make too much of a difference. If you’re a batter, it doesn’t matter if there are ten people there or 100,000, as at the MGC in Australia. Either way, you’ve just got to concentrate on that next ball. The sad thing is, the great atmospheres you experience as a player won’t be there. As we’ve seen with Premier League football, the crowd plays such an important part. But we’ve got to look past that – it’s great to see cricket back on our screens.
The Covid-19 lockdown has been a blow for cricket...
It’s very sad for a number of reasons. Last year was so special, with unforgettable moments, and now cricket isn’t able to build on that. How many children saw the cricket last year and wanted to be Ben Stokes or Jofra Archer? I feel as if that momentum has been lost.
Cricket was always on my mind but then I had the escape of having to worm 200 sheep
What was the highlight of your time playing with England?
Any time you win away, to beat an international side in their home conditions. When you’ve been away you’re really part of a team. So India in 2012 when I was captain. And Australia in 2010/11. That was an incredible tour. Sitting there with captain Andrew Strauss and picking up the Ashes, having a beer in Sydney… I’ll never forget those times
Did you make the right decision to retire from international cricket two years ago?
I did. It wasn’t an overnight decision. I’d run out of that bit of extra fire that made me a slightly different player to anyone else – I couldn’t find it.
I miss playing but it was the right decision for me.
The coverage has returned to the BBC for the first time since 1999. How important is it that cricket is on the Beeb?
There needs to be a balancing act to make sure not all cricket is behind a paywall. But Sky have done a fantastic job. I don’t think without their backing England would have won the World Cup or become the No.1 Test side.
A lot has been made of Isa Guha presenting the men’s game.
I don’t think it matters if you’re a woman or a man, or how many games you’ve played. We’ve got to get past that. It’s just who is good at the job.
You also enjoy farming. How did that come about?
It was purely by accident. My wife Alice and her family are farmers. To be part of it is lovely as I just love the outside.
I had no experience of farming before. I didn’t know that passion was there, the love of it.
Did farming help you during your more trying times?
It proves life goes on in a different way. Of course cricket is always in the back of my mind but then I had the escape of having to worm 200 sheep. Before I made 294 against India in 2011 I was struggling but I had a week off and was very busy getting sheep ready for sale. My fatherin-law said, ‘You don’t need net sessions to regain your form, just a week on the farm.’
Would you encourage your children into cricket?
I’ll give them the opportunity to experience it, for sure. If they love cricket, brilliant, if they don’t like it, that’s fine. My parents gave me the opportunity to do things and hopefully I can do the same for my children. Whether it’s football, horse riding, badminton, whatever.
Daily highlights from the England vs West Indies Test series are on BBC2