Four reasons why Alastair Cook stands out as England's greatest ever player

Sir Alastair Cook returned to the pavilion for the last time. Photo: PA/Anthony Devlin

In choosing the Telegraph's all-time Test XI, our readers chose as their opening batsmen not one «verray, parfit gentil knyght» as Chaucer put it, but two: Sir Jack Hobbs, «The Master «, who was the first professional cricketer to be knighted, and Sir Alastair Cook. .

Besides all his centuries, traps and captaincy, Cook, like Hobbs, embodied the virtues that the English have traditionally valued: stoicism and modesty, self-deprecation and devotion to duty, all with a touch of humor. Now that he is retiring, we can see who in the highest echelons of public life can move them forward.

It is five years since Cook walked up the steps of the Oval to widespread applause and bid a triumphant – but never, ever triumphant – farewell to Test cricket. It's telling that it's hard for the mind's eye to conjure up a dominant image of his batting, but that's because Cook allowed himself so few luxuries: three shots, which he limited himself to in order to combine with his staunch defense, and unlimited hours of play. in the fold once it has been installed.

So, looking back, after five more productive seasons for Essex, Cook's image as an England cricketer is likely to be one of him standing up and becoming captain at first slip. There he is not impassive, but outwardly calm. Note that when the ball comes off the edge, he doesn't lean back and parry it over the crossbar like weaker souls, but has the core stability to absorb the impact. Such is his inner strength.

There is no doubt that Cook will retire with the award of England's all-time leading left-handed batsman. Such was the Victorian mores in England: in the early days of Test cricket in 1877, there were no left-handed batsmen. The first left-hander to score a Test century for England was Frank Woolley in 1911–12; It was only in the 1950s that they had left-handers score hundreds in Tests. Essentially, Cook had to defeat John Edrich and Sir Andrew Strauss.

Overall, Cook should be among England's top half-dozen Test batsmen. If you go further, you have to make a comparison between chalk and cheese: to compare Cook, going out to meet the Dukes ball, rushing around England, with Hobbs or Wally Hammond between the world wars, is to compare not just different eras, but practically different species sports Hobbs and Hammond did not wear hip pads, let alone helmets: until the 1970s, the ball remained below pitch height, except for the occasional bouncer. Hobbs did protest when Yorkshire bowler Bill Bowes fired at him, similar to the one Cook recognized as his daily dish. It was not cricket, not the same as before.

What we can do is notice that Cook tops the table of England batsmen in three or even four indicators.

Firstly, his 161 Test matches. Well, throughout his international career he had a central contract and no one but himself expected him to produce tons for Essex; but the longevity is unique, at least until he was overtaken by James Anderson. This is the strength of mental strength or nerve: to expose oneself to danger for 12 years, summer and winter, going to battle, suffering failure and accepting humiliation.

Secondly, two of England's three longest Test innings were played by Cook. If his 294 in 773 minutes against India at Edgbaston was an exercise in patient accumulation, his 263 in 836 minutes, achieved in the desert heat of Abu Dhabi, was the result of pure bloodshed. His Pakistan double-hundred counterpart Shoaib Malik spent the night in hospital on a saline drip.

Thirdly, most Test centuries for England: 33 of them, 10th most among all players with batsman from every country, and is second only to Sunil Gavaskar of India among opening batsmen.

Fourth and finally (and here there can be no objective assessment): Cook has never said or done anything in public to rock the Boat — and he would have had the right to rant to the England management who knocked on his door on Christmas Day 2014 to tell him he had been ousted as England one-day captain: at the subsequent World Cup he could open the scoring in the old-fashioned style instead of Ian Bell. However, Cook stuck to his guns and, as Hobbs' successor, he tops the table among modern English cricketers in terms of public affection.