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Full name Alastair Nathan Cook
Born December 25, 1984, Gloucester
Current age 23 years 144 days
Major teams England, Bedfordshire, England Under-19s, Essex, Marylebone Cricket Club
Nickname Cooky, Chef
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm slow
Height 6 ft 2 in
Education Bedford School

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	27	51	2	2130	127	43.46	4647	45.83	7	9	245	1	28
ODIs	21	21	0	667	102	31.76	977	68.27	1	3	73	0	7
T20Is	2	2	0	24	15	12.00	25	96.00	0	0	4	0	1
First-class	80	145	11	6069	195	45.29	11342	53.50	18	30			83
List A	51	50	4	1494	125	32.47	2065	72.34	2	7			23
Twenty20	4	4	0	35	15	8.75	44	79.54	0	0	5	0	1

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	27	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
ODIs	21	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
T20Is	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
First-class	80		156	117	3	3/13		39.00	4.50	52.0	0	0	0
List A	51		18	10	0	-	-	-	3.33	-	0	0	0
Twenty20	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Career statistics
Test debut	India v England at Nagpur, Mar 1-5, 2006 scorecard
Last Test	New Zealand v England at Napier, Mar 22-26, 2008 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	England v Sri Lanka at Manchester, Jun 28, 2006 scorecard
Last ODI	New Zealand v England at Christchurch, Feb 23, 2008 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut	England v West Indies at The Oval, Jun 28, 2007 scorecard
Last T20I	England v West Indies at The Oval, Jun 29, 2007 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	2003
Last First-class	Essex v Middlesex at Chelmsford, May 7-10, 2008 scorecard
List A debut	2003
Last List A	Essex v Sussex at Chelmsford, Apr 27, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Middlesex v Essex at Southgate, Jul 1, 2005 scorecard
Last Twenty20	England v West Indies at The Oval, Jun 29, 2007 scorecard

Profile

A stylish left-handed opener with a simple approach to batting, Alastair Cook has been earmarked for great things in the game - not least by his mentor at Essex, Graham Gooch, who threw Cook in at the deep end of county cricket only a year after he left Bedford School, where he had broken all sorts of records. Cook captained England in the 2004 Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh and scored two centuries while leading them to the semi-finals, before scoring his maiden first-class hundred against Leicestershire at Chelmsford in 2004. A fine season followed in 2005 - he scored a double-century for Essex against the touring Australians and was voted Young Cricketer of the Year by the Cricket Writers' Club - and in March 2006 he went on to make his England debut in the midst of an injury crisis in India. He had been touring the Caribbean with the England A squad when the call came but, unfazed after a 48-hour journey, he racked up 60 in his first Test innings, then went one better in the second with a magnificent 104, becoming the 16th England batsman to make a century on debut, and at 21 years and 69 days, the youngest since Peter May in 1951. Back-to-back hundreds against Pakistan in 2006 cemented his place in the side and he was named Young Cricketer of the Year for the second time in 2006. The Ashes tour proved more of a challenge, as his technique was dissected by Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee, but his century in the second innings at Perth confirmed his mental fortitude. He was still not 23 when he scored his fifth and sixth Test centuries in the 3-0 series win over West Indies - not far adrift of the indisputable greats Don Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar, who had managed eight by the same age. Having missed England's disastrous World Cup in the Caribbean, Cook was soon cast as an opener in one-day cricket as well. He became the youngest England batsman to pass 2000 Test runs in New Zealand in 2008 on a tour in which he only managed one fifty, but his catching improved out of all recognition. Gone were the awkward fumbles; in came the daring dives at backward point, pouching six beauties in the first Test in Hamilton. His penchant for a clichéd soundbite belies a fierce determination to improve as a cricketer on every level, in every match.
Will Luke April 2008

May 16, 2008

Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook put together a handy opening partnership
© Getty Images

May 16, 2008

Alastair Cook latches onto a pull
© Getty Images

Apr 17, 2008

Tim Ambrose, Ryan Sidebottom and Alastair Cook in England's Test strip
© Getty Images

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