Alastair Cook

English cricketer, nicknamed "Cookie," "Chef" or "Captain Cook," who plays for Essex County Cricket Club, and played for England in all international formats from 2006 to 2018. A former captain of the England Test and One-Day International (ODI) teams, he is the fifth-highest Test run scorer of all time and holds a number of English and international records. He was knighted for services to cricket in 2019. Cook is Englands second most-capped Test player and has captained the English team in 59 Tests, as well as in 69 ODIs. He is the leading run-scorer in Test matches for England, and the youngest player to score 12,000 Test runs (the sixth overall, and the only Englishman). Cook has scored a record 33 Test centuries for England and is the first England player to win 50 Test matches. A left-handed opening batsman (the highest-scoring left-hander in Tests), he normally fields at first slip. Cook played for Essexs Academy and made his debut for the first XI in 2003. He played in several of Englands youth teams from 2000 until his call up to the Test side in 2006. While touring in the West Indies with the ECB National Academy, Cook was called up to the England national team in India as a last-minute replacement for Marcus Trescothick and debuted, aged 21, with a century. He went on to score 1,000 runs in his maiden year and made centuries in his first Test matches against India, Pakistan, the West Indies and Bangladesh. Cook played a pivotal role in England winning the 2009 Ashes series, and, after deputising as Test captain in 2010 and then taking ODI captaincy full-time, in retaining the Ashes in 2010–2011. He was appointed captain of the Test team after Andrew Strausss retirement on 29 August 2012. Cook captained England to its first Test series victory in India since 1984–1985. During the tour he became the first captain to score a century in each of his first five Tests in charge. On 30 May 2015, Cook became the leading run-scorer in Test matches for England, surpassing Graham Gooch (8900). After Englands 2016 tour of Bangladesh and India, he stepped down as Test captain. On 24 May 2018 during the first Test against Pakistan, Cook equalled Allan Borders record for appearing in the greatest number of consecutive Test matches, with 153, surpassing it a week later in the second Test at Headingley. On 3 September 2018, Cook announced that his twelve-year international career would end at the conclusion of the series against India on 11 September 2018. On the occasion of Englands 1000th Test in August 2018, he was named in the countrys greatest Test XI by the ECB. Cook has written a column in The Daily Telegraph and Metro. He used his skill with the saxophone to contribute to Freefonix, a CBBC animated series with music-based adventures. Cook has donated his time to various charities including taking part in The Great City Race for Breakthrough Breast Cancer and modelled naked alongside fellow cricketers James Anderson and Stuart Broad to help raise awareness for testicular cancer on behalf of the Everyman Campaign. In December 2011, Cook married Alice Hunt, whom he had known since childhood. The couple has two daughters and one son. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less