When Alastair Cook leads England out in Chittagong for the first of two Tests against Bangladesh, he will become his country’s most-capped player.
134 times he will have stepped out, one more than the previous incumbent, Alec Stewart, and 35 more than the next highest among his teammates for this Test who, if it makes any difference, is the Brisbane Courier Mail’s favourite sportsman, Stuart Broad.
Given his enviable fitness record, the fact he is still just 31, and England’s relatively heavy schedule, there is every chance the Essex opener could become the most capped Test player of all time.
Of course, reaching such a milestone would only happen a few years down the line and Cook might decide to call it a day much sooner than that but, nevertheless, he hasn’t indicated the pipe and slippers are being prepared quite yet.
It’s fairly safe to say Cook will be prodding and cutting about for some time to come.
A few weeks ago, this author wrote of Chris Rogers’ retirement and how it was a link to a more sedate past being extinguished.
Change or progress – it depends on how you look at it – has altered cricket markedly over the past decade or so and, while Test cricket hasn’t faded from the public’s consciousness altogether, those who exclusively fly the five-day game’s flag are, sure as eggs are eggs, going the same way as the dodo.
A quick question: of all the world’s premier international cricketers, how many only play Tests without any hope, chance or opportunity of appearing in coloured clothing?
I certainly couldn’t think of too many (feel free to enlighten me) and it just goes to show the pool is an ever decreasing one.
You could argue this isn’t necessarily a good thing, and the purist in me would definitely lean towards this direction of thought, but things do change and the primacy of Test cricket, even in this part of the world, is eroding.
When there is talk of altering the international schedule to accommodate a new Twenty20 tournament, the kind of thing that would’ve been considered almost treacherous not so long ago, you know the candle is flickering and the breeze is increasing in intensity.
For that reason, we should treasure the Test specialist while he is still here and from an English perspective, Cook is worth his weight in gold.
He may not be everybody’s cup of tea with a functional batting style that has never been aesthetically pleasing and a method of captaincy that isn’t gung-ho enough for many, but I doubt he really cares too much.
He’s had a handful of rough patches and lesser men would’ve given up the ghost a while back, especially after the Ashes debacle of 2013-14 when he was squarely in the sights of anyone with a spleen to vent and an opinion, worthy or not, to shout, but he’s a stubborn soul and had he departed it would’ve been to the detriment of the side he still leads.
It isn’t pushing the boat out to suggest Cook won’t be remembered as his nation’s finest captain, however well his record stacks up, but as an opening batsman he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Graham Gooch, Geoffrey Boycott and Michael Vaughan, to name a trio that immediately springs to mind.
You can debate the merits of cricketers and the strength of the eras in which they performed until the cows come home, but until a definitive way of comparing them exists, we’ll have to make do with what we’ve got.
And what we have is a tally a fraction shy of 10,600 runs (before the current Test anyway) at an average in excess of 47 with 29 centuries.
They are decent figures by any standards and, given the way he was playing last summer, there should be a few more on the horizon.
If England are to continue towards their stated desire of becoming the number one side in the world, and I’ll be reserving judgement until after five Tests in India without a spinner worthy of the name, then Cook has a significant part to play.
Nobody is irreplaceable, however good they may be, but among modern-day English opening batsmen, Cook is as close as it gets. That’s not a bad line for the CV.
While a premature retirement isn’t the solution, he or England want, he may be forced into it if he can’t maintain a long run of matches.
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