Alastair Nathan Cook, CBE (born 25 December 1984) is an English cricketer who plays for Essex County Cricket Club, and formerly for England in all international formats. A former captain of the England Test and One-Day International (ODI) teams, he holds a number of English and international records. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen ever to play for England, and is one of the most prolific batsmen of the modern era. Cook is the fifth highest Test run scorer of all time.

Alastair Cook
CBE

Cook in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Alastair Nathan Cook
Born	(1984-12-25) 25 December 1984 (age 33) Gloucester, England
Nickname	Cookie, Chef
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Right-arm slow
Role	Opening batsman
International information
National side	England (2006-2018)
Test debut (cap 630)	1 March 2006 v India
Last Test	7 September 2018 v India
ODI debut (cap 196)	28 June 2006 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	16 December 2014 v Sri Lanka
ODI shirt no.	26
T20I debut (cap 24)	28 June 2007 v West Indies
Last T20I	15 November 2009 v South Africa
T20I shirt no.	26
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2002	Bedfordshire
2003	Essex Cricket Board
2003–present	Essex (squad no. 26)
2004–2007	Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I FC Matches 161 92 4 289 Runs scored 12,472 3,204 61 22,604 Batting average 45.35 36.40 15.25 47.38 100s/50s 33/57 5/19 0/0 63/107 Top score 294 137 26 294 Balls bowled 18 – – 282 Wickets 1 – – 7 Bowling average 7.00 – – 30.14 5 wickets in innings 0 – – 0 10 wickets in match 0 n/a – 0 Best bowling 1/6 – – 3/13 Catches/stumpings 175/– 36/– 1/– 306/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 11 September 2018

Cook is England’s most-capped player and has captained the team in an English record 59 Tests and 69 ODIs. He is the leading run-scorer in Test matches for England, and the youngest player to complete 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 take part in 50 Test victories. A left-handed opening batsman (the highest scoring left-hander in Tests), he normally fields at first slip.

Cook played for Essex's Academy and made his debut for the first XI in 2003. He played in several of England's 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 2010-11.

He was appointed captain of the Test team after fellow opener Andrew Strauss's retirement on 29 August 2012. Cook captained England to its first Test series victory in India since 1984–85. 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 England's 2016 tour of Bangladesh and India, he stepped down as Test captain. Cook was appointed MBE in 2011 and CBE in 2016 for services to cricket. On 24 May 2018 during the first Test against Pakistan, Cook equalled Allan Border's record for appearing in the most 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.