Alastair Cook
Flickr photo by John Garghan shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND 2.0) license.

Alastair Cook: A glorious end to a glorious career

Alvina Ahmed·
International
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Another legendary cricketer says goodbye to international cricket… 

Alastair Cook calls time on his international career after his 159th consecutive test for England. Cook announced his retirement earlier this month, confirming the fifth and final test against India to be his last. Interestingly, India is also the nation he made his debut against in 2006 – as Cook appears to have truly come full circle.

The Englishman’s 12-year career is full of notable achievements and the numbers speak for themselves. At 33, Alastair Cook is the leading run scorer for England and the highest scoring left-hander of all time in Test cricket. He is also the youngest in Test history to score 6000, 7000, 8000, 9000, 10000, 11000, and 12000 runs in the format – while his 161 test appearances for England included a record-breaking 159 appearances in a row. The man has also captained his team in 59 matches – the most by any English captain.

The Chef retired with a number of England records under his name, and his final innings just added more to the stack. Cook played a dreamy last knock as he scored his 33rd century at The Oval in the fifth test against India. His last century was applauded by the crowd and his teammates alike, coupled with a well-deserved standing ovation. During this innings, he also became the fifth-highest run scorer in Test history. To complete the fairytale, Cook was awarded the Man of the Match award for his magical performance. That made him only the 8th player to win the award in the last and final appearance of their Test career.

What happens now?

As Cook’s glittering career comes to an end, Team England must look for a replacement. England already struggled while finding a partner for him, and now they must go one step further. Keaton Jennings, Rory Burns, and Joe Denly appear to be strong candidates for a chance to take his spot at the top of the order. After their captain’s retirement, James Anderson and Stuart Broad are the only two players remaining in the squad from the team that reached the No.1 spot in the ICC Test rankings in 2011. Joe Root, who also scored a century in Cook’s final Test, is still looking to strengthen his position in the team. The series win against India has already helped his cause a little bit.

England travel to Sri Lanka next month to play five ODIs, one T20, and three Test matches. The selection panel meets this coming week to decide on the squad for the tour. Let’s see who gets the chance to open immediately after Cook’s retirement.