Cook's record of excellence

A decade on from his debut, Alastair Cook has broken yet another England Test record, appearing in his 134th match, and so become the most capped Englishman.

While his astonishing introduction to Test cricket – in which he scored 60 and an unbeaten 104 against India after hurtling halfway across the world to reach the game in time – hinted at his potential, few could have predicted the impact he would enjoy in the following 10 years. Even a then 21-year-old Cook thought his maiden Test achievements were “unreal”.

But in those nine-and-a-half hours at the crease, in a boiling hot Nagpur, Cook demonstrated the determination required to make it at the top. A second century came the following summer as he again showed that early resolve, briefly batting in an unfamiliar number three position following the return of Marcus Trescothick.

His first introduction to the fierce contest of an Ashes series was a frustrating experience, taking a 5-0 beating from a wounded, revenge-seeking Australia in the winter of 2006-07. Although, even in that dispiriting tour, Cook still managed to provide a moment of hope for English onlookers, as he brought up his fourth century in 12 matches and momentarily halted Australia’s juggernaut in the series-clinching third Test.

The next bout with Australia, in 2009, ended better for Cook, as England regained the urn, though his influence on the outcome wasn’t quite as considerable as it would be the next year, when he scored three tons including a double hundred.

Between those two series, Cook was once more required to display his conviction with the bat, as his place in the team came under danger. Taking on South Africa on their own turf, he produced an unyielding 118 in the second Test, to help set up an innings-and-98-run win that put England one up in the four-match series. A pair of half-centuries in the next fixture ensured their series lead stayed intact going into the final match. However, the inconsistencies that blighted the side at the time came back to haunt them, as South Africa clinched a much-needed victory to level the series.

His position in the side was cemented not long after; when captain Andrew Strauss took a break for the series of Bangladesh ahead of an Ashes year, Cook was temporarily handed the armband. The understudy greeted the decision with two centuries consisting of sublime batting against spin, to get his life as (interim) captain off to a perfect start.

Twelve months on and runs continued to flow from Cook’s bat, 766 runs streaming from it against Australia in the 2010/11 Ashes. Two man of the match awards and a man of the series accolade came his way too, as England registered a historic 3-1 win over their Antipodean counterparts.

The next summer, six runs were all that stood between Cook and the first triple hundred by an Englishman since mentor Graham Gooch’s triple-century more than two decades previous. Having struck his way to 294 and with the feat in sight for Cook, the weariness of almost 13 hours out in the middle took over, India thankful to see him depart caught behind.

India would be reminded of Cook’s fortitude less than a year later when, as newly appointed full-time captain, he set about leading England to an astounding 2-1 series victory over their hosts, a first win in India for 28 years. In what was a remarkable series, Cook finished top run-scorer, while the spin duo of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar tormented the opposition batsmen.

The good times persisted into the 2013 season with England winning the home Ashes series 3-0; Cook lifting the urn for the first time as captain. However, Cook’s impressive consistent form he’d enjoyed over the previous few years began to wane, becoming more intermittent over the next couple of summers.

But in late 2015, his rhythm restored after a century earlier in the year in the Caribbean, Cook struck a tremendous 263 away to Pakistan, providing his master-blaster team-mates a chance of securing an unexpected Test win. In the end, bad light prevailed, leaving England 25 runs short.

By this point, Cook was close to becoming the first Englishman to score 10,000 Test runs, eventually reaching the five-figure landmark in the 2-0 series victory over Sri Lanka in the summer of 2016. Appropriately, it came by way of a nurdled boundary off his legs.

Cook scored a century in Rajkot in the first Test of England's tour of India later that year but at the end of a tough series he said he would contemplate his position over in the winter, and in February 2016 he announced he was stepping down after 59 Tests at the helm.

Runs came in England's 3-1 series win over South Africa, including a gritty 88 that showcased the pure determination of the man. In England's first ever day/night Test against the West Indies, Cook compiled a magnificent 243 - the fourth double ton of his Test career - as England won the series 2-1.

In what was a trying Ashes tour, Cook's unbeaten 244 not out at the MCG helped England draw the Boxing Day Test, and after helping England clinch the series against India, he sat proudly on 160 Tests, 18 more than his big pal, Jimmy Anderson.