Alastair Cook becomes England most capped Test player: highlights
Thursday 20 October 2016 21:06, UK
Alastair Cook became England's most capped Test player on Thursday by leading his team against Bangladesh in the first Test in Chittagong.
The match is Cook's 134th for his country and only 10 others have made more Test match appearances - Sachin Tendulkar leading the way with 200 caps.
Here are some of Cook's career highlights...
An unforgettable debut (March 2006)
Cook made his debut for England during the 2006 tour of India, a surprise call-up after Marcus Trescothick flew home with personal problems.
The 21-year-old had been on tour in the Caribbean with the England A team but he was thrown straight into the team for the first Test in Nagpur, where he scored 60 and then an unbeaten 104 in a sensational debut.
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Glory down under (Nov-Dec 2010)
Having suffered a whitewash at the hands of the Aussies in the early years of his Test career, Cook led from the top as England saw off the old enemy on their home turf during the 2010 Ashes.
He began the series by scoring an unbeaten 235 at The Gabba, so often the graveyard of England's hopes, prompting The Sydney Morning Herald to quip that "Australia have been cooked and served up for supper".
He then hit 148 in the second Test and 189 in the fifth match in Sydney, averaging more than 127 for the series.
Highest score (Aug 2011)
Having totalled just 20 runs in his first four innings, Cook went into the third Test at Edgbaston of the 2011 series against India in need of a big score. His innings of 294 was the highest by an England batsman since Graham Gooch scored a triple century 21 years earlier.
Cook hit 33 boundaries during a 773-minute stay at the crease as England crushed India by an innings and 242 runs. The end was agonising as Cook, needing just one big hit to reach the 300-mark, was caught by Suresh Raina while chasing after an innocuous wide delivery from Ishant Sharma.
Marathon knock (Oct 2015)
England almost pulled off a dramatic victory on the final day of the first Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi with Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow indulging in some hard-hitting before bad light intervened.
But the stage had been set by Cook in the first innings as he spent an astonishing 835 minutes at the crease as he compiled a painstaking 263 - the third longest individual innings in Test match history.
His formidable powers of concentration left many observers in awe. "It is just an unbelievable will to concentrate for that long," said England coach Trevor Bayliss. "His powers of concentration are just superb."
The 10,000-run club (May 2016)
Cook became the first English batsman to score 10,000 Test runs during the second Test against Sri Lanka at The Riverside in Durham, reaching the landmark with a four through mid-wicket off Nuwan Pradeep.
At 31 years and 157 days, he was also the youngest, beating the record of Tendulkar, who was 31 years and 326 days when he scored his 10,000th Test run.
Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar, who was the first player to breach the 10,000 mark, backed Cook to beat Tendulkar's record saying "he has age on his side" and pointing out that England play more Tests than any other nation.
Watch the opening Test between Bangladesh and England on Thursday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 2 HD and Sky Sports Mix at 4:30am.
