A Cook-book of Success

Alastair Cook trusts his technique, WORKS INCREDIBLY HARD, and has a great temperament. These are all simple virtues but very important ones. I’ve worked closely with Cook in the UAE as an ECB consultant and I was impressed by his work ethic, honesty and intelligence.

England’s captain Alastair Cook has now scored five Test centuries on Indian soil. That’s an incredible achievement, a record for visiting batsmen, and a testament to his all-round quality and fighting ability as the greatest opening batsman of the modern era.

Opening the batting in Test cricket is not easy. In the game’s longest form, there is a reason why the majority of the game’s heaviest run scorers bat at No. 3 and No. 4, rather than opening the innings — they don’t have to fight for survival against the new ball.

IT DOES NOT MATTER whether you are batting in Leeds or Kolkata or using a Dukes or SG ball, facing the new ball is a perilous exercise. Opening batsmen who average between 35 and 40 are the middle-order equivalent of those that average 45 to 50. And to have an average of 47 like Cook is exceptional.

Just 31, albeit nearing his 32nd birthday, Cook does have a truly exceptional record: nearly 11,000 runs, 30 hundreds, 52 fifties. No one knows how much petrol remains in the tank but should he continue into his mid-thirties he might threaten even Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time run scoring record.