Profile : Alastair Cook
Full Name: Alastair Nathan Cook
DOB: 25-12-1984, Gloucester
Specialist: Batsman
Bats: Left Hand Bat
Bowls: Right Arm Off Spin
Major Teams: Essex
DOB: 25-12-1984, Gloucester
Specialist: Batsman
Bats: Left Hand Bat
Bowls: Right Arm Off Spin
Major Teams: Essex
Calm, unflappable and capable of playing long innings, Alastair Cook is a Test opener in the traditional mould. He scored 164 runs in an impressive Test debut in Nagpur in March 2006 and has continued to exhibit the necessary attributes for Test runscoring that he honed at his county under the tutelage of Graham Gooch.
Cook reached 3,000 Test runs before the age of 25 and there is every reason to expect him to achieve a similarly long and productive career as his Essex mentor. He ended a 27-innings drought without a Test ton at Barbados in February 2009.
Cook failed to adapt his style in his early limited overs appearances and needs to find a way of scoring quickly during fielding restrictions, as he lacks the ability to clear the ropes. Despite performing well while captaining the ODI side in Bangladesh in early 2010, Cook was dropped for that summer's limited overs matches and could struggle to regain his place in that format of cricket.
As vice-captain of the Test side, when Andrew Strauss was controversially rested for the 2010 tour of Bangladesh Cook was installed as temporary skipper and England successfully negotiated the tour. That success was quickly followed by a summer of frustration, when he passed 30 only once in Test matches, putting the spotlight on his performances as the opening batsman for the 2010/11 Ashes series.
Cook began that Ashes series in the best possible fashion with scores of 67 and 235 not out in the opening Test, the latter being the highest Test score by an England player in over two decades. Further records fell as Cook became the second youngest player to the landmark of 5,000 Test runs with only Sachin Tendulkar reaching the milestone sooner. By the end of the series Cook had written his name into Ashes history - he had amassed a mammoth 766 runs at an average of 127.66 and was awarded the Compton-Miller medal as man of the series. Despite being left out of the World Cup that followed Cook was made ODI captain on the team's return as England looked to a separate captain for each version of the game.
Cook reached 3,000 Test runs before the age of 25 and there is every reason to expect him to achieve a similarly long and productive career as his Essex mentor. He ended a 27-innings drought without a Test ton at Barbados in February 2009.
Cook failed to adapt his style in his early limited overs appearances and needs to find a way of scoring quickly during fielding restrictions, as he lacks the ability to clear the ropes. Despite performing well while captaining the ODI side in Bangladesh in early 2010, Cook was dropped for that summer's limited overs matches and could struggle to regain his place in that format of cricket.
As vice-captain of the Test side, when Andrew Strauss was controversially rested for the 2010 tour of Bangladesh Cook was installed as temporary skipper and England successfully negotiated the tour. That success was quickly followed by a summer of frustration, when he passed 30 only once in Test matches, putting the spotlight on his performances as the opening batsman for the 2010/11 Ashes series.
Cook began that Ashes series in the best possible fashion with scores of 67 and 235 not out in the opening Test, the latter being the highest Test score by an England player in over two decades. Further records fell as Cook became the second youngest player to the landmark of 5,000 Test runs with only Sachin Tendulkar reaching the milestone sooner. By the end of the series Cook had written his name into Ashes history - he had amassed a mammoth 766 runs at an average of 127.66 and was awarded the Compton-Miller medal as man of the series. Despite being left out of the World Cup that followed Cook was made ODI captain on the team's return as England looked to a separate captain for each version of the game.
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