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.
This story is from the December 3, 2016 edition of Sportstar.
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This story is from the December 3, 2016 edition of Sportstar.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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