“I was disappointed, I was in really good form. Obviously selection didn’t go my way, and I have to try and score some runs to try and put my name back in the hat.”
What a difference a couple of months makes. Alaistair Cook, the new darling of English cricket, had just returned from the most prosperous tour of his career having earned his place amongst the icons of the game thanks to his exploits Down Under.
Not content with helping England on their way to their first Ashes victory in Australia for 26 years, the Essex opener decided to send records tumbling.
A world record for longest time at the crease without being dismissed in a five match test series? Check. The longest time at the crease for England in any series? Check. Highest score by an Englishman in a series? Not quite, but give him a break; Wally Hammond’s 905 in 1928-29 against Australia was compiled across nine innings compared to the seven innings it took Cook to score his 766.
“I got lucky as well, there was a couple of decisions I was given out and I referred them and I was bowled off a no ball in Sydney and things were going my way a bit. I had to cash in and luckily I did” he modestly suggests, before the real reason for his success becomes apparent.
“It’s just a combination of a lot of hard work, and you don’t get anywhere without working hard,” he adds with more than a hint of the steel that helped him to 5th in the ICC batsman test rankings.
At just 26 he had the world at his feet and stood alone with a record some batsmen ten years his senior would be envious of.
But all was not well. For all his success in the longer form of the game, he was struggling to break into the one day international team. Doubts lingered about his ability to score runs at the pace needed for the 50-over game and his similarity to fellow opener and ODI captain Andrew Strauss meant that his chances to prove his worth were restricted.
Before England’s tour of Bangladesh in February and March last year, which gave Cook a chance to display his attacking prowess after Strauss opted to stay at home in order to rest, it had been almost 18 months since he had swung a bat in anger in ODI’s.
And when, despite his efforts in the test arena, Cook was left out of the squad to travel to the sub-continent to take part in the ODI World Cup that followed straight after the Ashes tour, the man they call “Chef” admits, somewhat understatedly, that he was “disappointed”; not that he would ever truly open up in front of the media, which have been so cruel to him in the past.
Cook is an opening batsman unlike most others. His ruthless determination and focus sets him apart from most as he offers a no-frills approach to the game that may not be pretty but remains pretty effective, and that is something he carries over into his interviewing style.
“It gave me a chance to get away from cricket for a month, do something different then get back in the gym in February and work as hard as I can on my game, so I’m ready to go.”
As good at dodging the issue as a well-directed bouncer it would seem, then. But from the disappointment of not being selected for the World Cup in March and April came redemption in May.
Strauss announced his retirement from ODI’s and Cook was duly appointed the new skipper of the team as the England management team revealed a new approach to cricket captaincy. With Stuart Broad announced the new captain of the Twenty20 side, England would have three captains.
Given his absence from the 50-over game, Cook was perhaps a surprise choice to lead England out against Sri Lanka and India in one of the most important English summers for some time.
Following their acrimonious exit from the World Cup at the hands of their opponents in July, something which head coach Andy Flower put down to the hectic schedule which saw some members of the tour party to only have a few days rest between returning from Australia and setting off for the sub-continent, the Zimbabwean decided something different was needed.
And Cook was the chief benefactor from this new “share the workload” approach. But why him?
It is easy to forget that Cook had not always had it his own way; he has not always been the rock steady presence on which England can build their victories.
In fact, going into the Ashes series, some were calling for his head. 2010 was in many ways a year of contrasts as the year began with calls for his head and ended in being lauded as King.
Pakistan’s tour of England provided perhaps his lowest ebb as the talk of Australia targeting him as a weak link became louder, and his hounding by the media has left the batsman particularly way.
“It comes with the territory. I don’t particularly enjoy it” he said with an increasingly familiar tone which straddled disinterest of talking about cricket but a love of the game.
“When you play for England, you just have to try and forget – the media shouldn’t affect your cricket because anyone can get you out, you can’t just turn it off and on. Every day you go out you have to try and score runs.”
It is this metronomic approach to life in the public eye and accumulating runs that inevitably left Cook as the best man for the job once Strauss stood aside. He has his friends in high places of course, both batting coach Graham Gooch and Flower himself have their connections with Essex, but while his selection as captain raised a few eyebrows, his qualities far outweigh any reservations over his ability to play ODI cricket.
After expressing his disappointment at missing out on the World Cup, Cook has received just the tonic for his blues. He will now prepare for a busy year of cricket, with six weeks playing for Essex before test and ODI series against Sri Lanka and India stretching from May right the way through to August.
If there were doubts over his game, Cook now has the chance to prove himself against two of the outstanding sides at the World Cup. And has ample opportunity to break some more records, it would seem.
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