Alastair Cook

Sir Alastair Nathan Cook (born 25 December 1984) is an English commentator and a former cricketer and captain of the England Test and One-Day International (ODI) cricket teams. Known for his compact technique and ability to bat for long periods, Cook is widely regarded as one of the greatest batters of his era and one of the greatest opening batsman of all time. He is the sixth-highest Test run scorer of all time and second-highest run scorer for England. He is England's second most-capped Test batsman and captained the England team in 59 Tests, as well as in 69 ODIs. He was also the youngest player to score 12,000 test runs. Cook retired from Test cricket in September 2018 and played for Essex in English domestic cricket until 2023, while also working for the BBC radio programme Test Match Special.

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 team in 2006. 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.