England vs Sri Lanka: Special talent Alastair Cook a model of consistency in reaching 10,000-Test run landmark

Cook surpassed 10,000 Test runs during the second innings against Sri Lanka, and he my just have set the bar too high for the next generation of English batsmen

Alastaor Cook celebrates after reaching 10,000 Test runs (Getty)

Alastair Cook, the youngest player and the first Englishman to reach 10,000 Test runs, is a throwback among modern batsmen. Not for him the need to dominate by heaving for the boundary. Instead he seeks to command by occupation of the crease - possession being nine tenths of just about everything including the law.

This strategy is not just something that evolved over his time in the professional game as it does with most batsmen. Cook, with his choirboy good looks, might not look a freak but those who knew the young man at Essex say he was unique. While others fretted and tinkered, he arrived at the county in full possession of how he was going to score his runs. “Know thyself” may be a touchstone of western philosophy but it is still rare among English teenagers.

Graham Gooch, who has been a mentor to Cook throughout the latter’s 12-year career with both Essex and England, confirms his protege's singular talent.

“Alastair’s incredible mental strength was evident very early on,” said Gooch, when asked recently about him. “Against any bowling attack and in any conditions, he knew how was going to score his runs. To know your game that well, so young, is very unusual.”

Having played some fine innings himself in India, Gooch picks two hundreds Cook made there to illustrate his qualities. The first, the hundred he made on Test debut at Nagpur, was notable for being based on two scoring shots, the cut and the nudge off his legs. Having flown half way round the world to be Marcus Trescothick’s replacement, a 21-year old Cook ground his way to three figures in just over six hours. Ugly runs for sure but nobody could doubt they belonged to a special talent.

The second hundred Gooch chose was the 122 Cook made in Mumbai in 2012/13, on a pitch specially prepared for India’s spinners and one described by MS Dhoni, India’s captain, as “a rank turner.” Kevin Pietersen also made a fine hundred there and England won the match, but Cook played the turning ball so well and looked so secure that by the final Test, following another hundred in Kolkata, Dhoni had given up trying to get him out.

The other stellar moment of his career was the 2011/12 Ashes in Australia. Cook made 766 runs in that series at an average of 127.6, making one double hundred and two single ones over the five Tests as Ricky Ponting’s team were beaten 3-1, the Aussies’ first Ashes defeat on home soil for 24 years.

A tribute to England captain Cook appeared on the big screen in Durham (Getty)

A man in possession of few frills, with bat in hand or otherwise, he is though a model of consistency when it comes to runs-scoring. It is 10 years since his 2006 Test debut in Nagpur, which means he has averaged 1,000 Test runs a year ever since - an incredible feat.

There have been low points where his batting has suffered and even one, in 2014, where he questioned his motivation for playing the game after defeat at home to Sri Lanka. That episode, in which he suffered a concerted attack on social media from supporters of Kevin Pietersen, came soon after an Ashes whitewash which saw Andy Flower, Pietersen and several other players put out to pasture. On that occasion it was Alice, his wife, who talked him round.

Whenever his problems are technical the fault usually lies with his footwork, which occasionally gets out of kilter. A tall man at 6ft 2in, he needs to transfer his weight properly to bat fluently, and poor footwork hinders that. As to the other problem, from agitators and trolls on social media, some runs and a series win against India soon silenced them.

It is Gooch’s England record of 8,900 Test that Cook eclipsed last year. Now, with 10,000 runs in the bank for England and counting, he has set the bar high, even possibly out of reach for future contenders if he plays on for a few more years.

10,000 Test runs means you have scored runs over a long period against the best bowlers in all conditions. And that makes it something special

&#13; <p>Alastair Cook</p>&#13;

Not that he makes the first 11 top-scorers internationally, at least not yet. He is, though, only the second opener on that list, the other being Sunil Gavaskar, though facing the new ball in England, as Cook has often done, is one of the tougher tasks in cricket.

The man at run-scoring’s summit is Sachin Tendulkar with 15,921 from 200 Tests. But even at Cook’s current rate of scoring he will need to play for at least another six years to have any chance of reaching him. Given he is now a family man, that is a lot of commitment.

Having needed just 36 runs to reach the milestone three innings ago, Cook has batted like it has been weighing him down and you could see the relief when a nudge off his legs reached the boundary in England’s second innings here.

In a recent interview with Sky Sports, he said that while he never expected to achieve such feats, it was important because of the true standing it gives you as a batsman.

“When you start out you never believe you are good enough to achieve something like this,” said Cook. “But 10,000 Test runs means you have scored runs over a long period against the best bowlers in all conditions. And that makes it something special.”

It does indeed.