Alastair Cook: News

Fondly known as "Chef," Alastair Cook is an English cricketer who began his career in county cricket at the age of 15. In 2006, aged 21, Cook was called up to the English Test team touring India due to the absence of Marcus Trescothick. Scoring 104 in the second innings of his debut test match in Nagpur, Cook became only the 16th English player to score a century on his debut. He made his ODI debut the same year. From 2006 until his retirement in 2018, Cook played 159 Test matches; he also holds the record for playing the most consecutive Test matches for a team. During the same period, he scored a prolific 12,472 runs in Tests for England and became the fifth-highest run-getter in Test history. Captaining England for a record 59 test matches from 2010 to 2016, he led England to 24 wins to become the joint second-most successful English captain. Scoring 33 centuries in a career spanning over 12 years, he is also the player with the most Test centuries for England. In 2019, Cook received a knighthood and became the first England cricketer since Ian Botham received this honor in 2007.