Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook has announced his retirement from cricket as he brings the curtain down on his record-breaking career.
The left-handed opener’s 12,472 Test runs is the most by any English batter – placing him fifth in the all-time list – but after retiring from international duty in 2018, he has now decided to hang up his bat following the conclusion of the County Championship season with Essex.
Here, the PA new agency looks at the 38-year-old’s playing career in pictures.
Cook celebrated four Ashes series wins over Australia with England (David Davies/PA)Ashes winning England captain Cook (centre) celebrated a series victory with his team-mates in 2015 (Nick Potts/PA)Cook surpassed Allan Border’s previous record of 153 consecutive Test matches in 2018 before ending his career with 159 in succession (Philip Brown/Pool/PA)Cook was part of Essex’s County Championship-winning side in 2019 (Steven Paston/PA)Cook recorded 33 Test centuries for England – the most by an England batsman – with Joe Root currently on 30 (Adam Davy/PA)Cook’s 12,472 Test runs is the most by any English batter and he still sits fifth in the all-time list (Lynne Cameron/PA)Cook (right) was announced as England Test captain following the retirement of fellow opener Andrew Strauss (left) in 2012 (Gareth Copley/PA)Cook (left) celebrated his only wicket of his Test career, dismissing Ishant Sharma in 2014 (Nigel French/PA)Cook’s contract at Essex expired at the conclusion of the domestic season last month (Joe Giddens/PA)Cook (right) became England’s most-capped player in Test matches against Bangladesh in October 2016 – but has since been overtaken by James Anderson (left) and Stuart Broad (centre) (Anthony Devlin/PA)Cook (left) became England’s all-time leading runscorer in Test matches in May 2015 (Lynne Cameron/PA)Cook brought up his 12,000th Test run – becoming the youngest player to do so – during the fifth Ashes Test at Sydney Cricket Ground in 2018 (Gareth Copley/PA)Cook’s contract at Essex expired at the conclusion of the domestic season last month and he has elected against seeking a renewal (Gareth Fuller/PA)Cook said it “is not easy to say goodbye” after announcing his retirement on Friday (David Davies/PA)
