The ‘nicest man alive’ who led from front in a golden period for English cricket
THE art of great batsmanship is great timing, and with the sun just about to set on a wonderful career, Alastair Cook has got his spot on once again.
Cook, 33, has decided the last Test of the summer at the Oval against India will be the 161st and last of his international career. He will get the hero’s send-off his efforts over the past 12 years deserve.
No Englishman has played more games, scored more runs or hundreds, and taken more catches than Cook has, nor have they led the Test team more than the 59 times he walked out to the toss.
Those details make him an automatic great of the game as far as English cricketers go, but Cook’s success makes him a global giant.
A cricketer who gets to dine at the very top table of the game through sheer force of character, skill, determination and mental toughness.
He is in many ways the most English of cricketers, relying less on natural flair and touch, but instead building a career forged on hard work and discipline.
One way is not necessarily better than the other, but in an age when there is more emphasis on entertainment than results, or going viral rather than self reflection, Cook has been a reassuring anchor for those who take refuge in blood, sweat and tears instead of lights, cameras and followers.
“He is Alastair Cook, one of the nicest men alive and a man who has massively overachieved,” said his friend and former team-mate Graeme Swann.
“His natural, physical prowess isn’t one of a sportsman and yet he has become the holder of all these batting records. “He runs like Woody from Toy Story, his back is ready to snap in half but, in my eyes, this bloke is a hero.
“This is absolutely the right time for him. They’ve won the series against India, he’s not been in the greatest of form and, even though there is always the chance he might score a double hundred in his next innings, this is the perfect time to go.”
England have enjoyed one of their most golden periods in history with Cook in the Test team, reaching the pinnacle of the game as the No.1 side in 2011, and winning Test series away in Australia, India and South Africa at a time when those successes are becoming all too rare. With James Anderson and Stuart Broad leading the way with the ball, Cook (above) has led with the bat to score 12,254 runs and counting, but has done it in the hardest position of all as opener.
Incredibly, he has walked out to bat against a new ball with the bowlers at their freshest 276 times, and 84 times he has managed to score more than 50. It is a phenomenal record.
And despite reaching the highest level at the tender age of 21, when young men are still finding their feet as adults let alone professional sportsmen, there hasn’t been even a whiff of anything more salacious than being offered a marriage proposal by a banner on his debut. He has been a good team man who likes a beer, but nightclubs and bars have never been his natural habitat.
The presence of his wife Alice (with Cook, left), his childhood sweetheart, has been crucial to his career and when things got tough during a period of mudslinging between Kevin Pietersen and the ECB, Cook managed to remain calm and keep performing.
After giving up the captaincy in 2017, the runs have not flowed as he would have hoped, but perhaps his latest dip serves as a reminder of just how hard his job is. After all, the search for an opener to replace Andrew Strauss still goes on.