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The first to shake England’s century-maker Alastair Cook’s hand yesterday at the MCG was David Warner. It was a fitting tribute from the Australian vice-captain who made 103 the previous day.
Cook’s unbeaten 104 matched his unbeaten 104 on debut against India at Nagpur 11 years ago.
Yesterday ended his well below par Ashes run of 2, 7, 37, 16, 7 and 14, but why were so many calling for his sacking?
It’s only four months since Cook cracked 243 against the Windies at Edgbaston, and the 33-year-old still has plenty in the tank to support his stellar career stats.
He leads his peers in the most telling of records.
Most caps for England
Most Test runs
Most Test centuries
Most times captaining England
That’s an impressive list of achievements within the England camp, which begs the question: how does, and will, Alastair Cook rate on the world stage?
(Nick Potts/PA Wire)
So far there are just ten Test batsmen who have cracked the 11000-run barrier, with Cook the only opener. That in itself is no mean feat, constantly facing the new ball in different conditions in different countries.
Indian Suni Gavaskar is the only other Test opening batsman to figure in this category when he became the first to break the 10000-run barrier in 1973.
The ten among the elite
Currently eighth, Cook has his crosshairs firmly fixed on Chanderpaul, Lara, and Sangakkara to move into fifth spot, but can he catch Tendulkar?
It’s a compulsive comparison. Apart from his obvious outstanding ability, Tendulkar debuted for India at 16, retired at 40 and is the only one in history to play 200 Tests.
It stands to reason with his ability and longevity he should be leading the Test run-getters. He averaged 79.61 runs per Test. Cook is averaging 78.25 a Test, which is knocking on Tendulkar’s door, but the Englishman is still 4105 runs adrift.
At his current rate Cook needs another 52 Tests to catch him, which would take him to a career 203 Tests, just three more than Tendulkar.
Game on.