FIVE OF THE BEST: Alastair Cook’s best moments

After the major announcement that Alastair Cook will retire following the fifth Test against India at The Oval which begins on Friday, The Cricketer looks at his five greatest moments, as batsman and captain, as well as throwing in some of his worst

^{Alastair Cook has announced he will retire from England duty following the fifth Test against India}

Alastair Cook has been a stalwart of English cricket for over a decade. The statistics do not lie and, as such, it is under no doubt that the Essex man can be called England’s greatest ever batsman. With 12,254 runs to his name, Cook is England’s record run-scorer in Test matches. Cook also has the record for his country’s most centuries with an astonishing 32, nine more than anyone else.

After the major announcement that Alastair Cook will retire following the fifth, and final, Test against India at The Oval which begins on Friday, The Cricketer looks at his five greatest moments, as batsman and captain, as well as throwing in some of his worst, sorry Alastair…

Best moments

Brisbane 2010

235* vs Australia, first Ashes Test, Brisbane, 2010

Pivotal. Alastair Cook’s brilliant knock of 235 not out in the first Test of the 2010/11 Ashes series down under set the tone for what was to follow. This was especially the case given that England trailed by 221 runs following the first innings of the match. No bother for Cook though as he batted with true grit for 625 minutes to wear the Australians down, he never let up for the rest of the series with his 766 runs paving the way for England’s historic first Ashes win for 24 years.

^{Alastair Cook was pivotal in England's 2010/11 Ashes win in Australia}

Career best 294

294 vs India, third Test, Edgbaston, 2011

Many remember Alastair Cook’s epic innings against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi but, in scoring a career best 294, the opener again batted for over 12 hours, a mammoth feat. Cook’s effort was the sixth highest Test score by an Englishman and the best since his mentor Graham Gooch’s effort of 333 in 1990. Cook accumulated steadily and blunted the Indian attack in typical fashion, never letting his concentration slip as he took his side to a total in excess of 700 which set up a resounding victory.

Captaining England to first win in India for 28 years

India vs England Test series, 2012

Alastair Cook may have had some bad times as England captain but his biggest high came in India in 2012 as he led England to a first series victory in India for 27 years, an amazing achievement at least on par with Strauss’ Ashes win in Australia, if not better.

Michael Vaughan said at the time: “he [Cook] has led England to probably their biggest achievement in many, many years.”

13 hour double century epic in Pakistan

294 vs Pakistan, first Test, Abu Dhabi, 2015

Cook loved to break records and he continued to do so against Pakistan in 2015 where he batted in his textbook unfussy, determined and solid style. Batting for an utterly unbelievable 13 hours and 56 minutes Cook broke the record for the longest innings by an Englishman by time and, even more remarkably, became only the second man to bat for over 12 hours twice in their career, alongside Brian Lara.

^{Alastair Cook batted for 13 hours and 56 minutes against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in 2015}

Ashes double

2013 and 2015 Ashes series’ against Australia in England

If his series win in India as captain was his best moment in charge then leading England to back-to-back home series wins against the old enemy Australia in 2013 and 2015 was also highly impressive, even if the opposition were not of the calibre that they once were.

An Ashes win is the pinnacle for English Test cricket and something that few England captains achieved before him. To do it twice showed the measure of the man and the captain.

^{Alastair Cook led England to a 5-0 Ashes defeat in Australia in 2013/14}

Worst moments

Ashes 2013/14 (as captain)

5-0 series whitewash defeat against Australia in Australia, 2013/14

In between two Ashes wins at home, Cook suffered perhaps his lowest point in charge as he led his side to an emphatic 5-0 series defeat, destroyed by the pace of Mitchell Johnson.

If the results on the pitch were terrible then the vibes coming out of the dressing room were worse and the mid-tour departures of Jonathan Trott, to illness, and Graeme Swann, to retirement, compounded Cook’s misery as his ship sank rapidly.

Pietersen scandal

Kevin Pietersen sacked from the England Test team controversy

Alastair Cook also presided over the Kevin Pietersen scandal which severely tainted his time in charge and had a severe effect on not only English cricket but Cook himself too. Following the 2013/14 Ashes, Pietersen fell out with his England team-mates, setting off a chain reaction that would cause inner turmoil amongst the England side and the ECB for the next few years.

Cook, on the entire controversy, told The Telegraph in 2017: “I felt like it wasn’t handled particularly well by the ECB. I know I was the lightning rod for it, every person thought it was my decision. I felt I bore the brunt of that, unfairly in my personal opinion.”

Two years without a century

Batting struggles 2012-2014

On a performance note, Cook struggled immensely for runs during a period of two years up until the third Test against India at Southampton in 2014, not scoring a single century during that point. Cook’s place was being called into question from all parts but he responded brilliantly with scores of 95 and an unbeaten 70 in the game under the most extreme pressure to help set up an England win and save his career.

Cook said at the time that the first innings was “the most pressure I have been under as a player.”

COOK CALLS TIME ON ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER