2,579 see Cook go past 10,000
ALASTAIR COOK celebrated his 10,000th run in Test cricket in typically low-key fashion before a crowd of 2,579 in chilly Chester-le-Street yesterday. But the England captain (right), who led his side to a nine-wicket win over Sri Lanka and a series victory, then vowed to set himself new targets as his country’s highest Test scorer.
Alastair COOK never wants to think ‘What if?’ He wants to end his career knowing he has made the absolute most of the cricketing ability he has been given.
However many runs that brings him — and there is no reasoneason why there cannot be manyy more than 10,000 — Cook will know that he came through the bad times without quittting to become the most t prolific batsman in English test history.
the shot with which he reached that magical landmark at Durham yesterday said it all really. a trademark clip off his legs through mid-wicket for four and d a simple acknowledgeement of a milestone that hat surely makes him a greatat of the game.
He is a phenomenon. therehere have been others who have bbeen more pleasing on the eye below him on the English run-scorers list — like Graham Gooch, Kevin Pietersen, David Gower and alec stewart — but that will not bother him a jot.
Cook has never changed as a man from those early days at Essex when Keith Fletcher marked him out as one to watch and he has not changed that much as a batsman either. He is about substance over style.
He basically has five or six shots but they are all absolute bankers and he sticks to them knowing that is what he’s good at. He relies on the strength of his temperament and his absolute toughness to see him through. He just knows how to get the job done.
simply, there has never been a mentally stronger cricketer produced by England.
it did amaze me that it took so long for opposition bowlers to ‘work out’ Cook and realise that you cannot afford to feed his preference for the cut and pull.
Once bowlers had finally realised that, a few years ago, they tested Cook with full bowling around off stump and for a while he struggled but he has worked out a way to deal with that and emerged stronger than ever.
there is no ego about Cook but he has a presence, certainly since he has fought through those bad times as captain to become a true leader by example to a young England side who hugely respect him.
You could see again yesterday what a big influence Graham Gooch has been on him.
the work ethic, concentration and hunger for runs are all Goochlike, as was the low-key celebration and determination to put the team first.
Cook can be stubborn too and that is a quality he needed when he came through the aftermath of that 5-0 ashes humiliation in 2014 and criticism of his captaincy was at its most intense.
i get the impression he copes with the lows just as well as he does the highs, not getting too carried away by success but crucially not imploding or throwing it all away during those bad ones as lesser men might.
He does not seem to hold grudges against those fiercest critics either and in the past year or so has welcomed some of them into the England environment if he has felt they could add something to the performances of the team.
Now Cook has more than 10,000 test runs to go with 28 hundreds — both more than any other Englishman — and he has broken one of sachin tendulkar’s records, he could set his sights on the biggest one of all.
Even though he is not a natural athlete he is supremely fit — ask anyone at the Essex gym and they will tell you he is the first to arrive and last to leave — and i can see him going on for many years to come now.
Cook has good people around him and a nice balance to his life which sees him get away from cricket when he needs to and spend time with his family and on the farm he so enjoys.
But he also has a real love for the game and does not have to worry about one-day cricket any more, which has also been good for him, and should have enough breaks from the game to always stay fresh.
that means, at 31, he could go on for the six years or so it will probably take him to go past tendulkar’s record tally of 15,921 runs. i would not put it past him. Cook has scored 10,000 runs in 10 years and has a habit of exceeding all expectations of him and loves to prove anybody who doubts him wrong.
For now he can be very proud of becoming England’s finest and a true great.