England skipper Alastair Cook eyes 10,000th Test run and place in history books
Skipper Alastair Cook admits the prospect of assuming the status of the youngest ever player to amass 10,000 Test runs is at the forefront of his mind as England begin their international summer on Thursday.
Cook – aged 31 years, four months and 24 days – needs just 36 runs to reach the milestone and surpass the record set by India great Sachin Tendulkar against Pakistan in 2005.
Tendulkar was six months older than Cook when he made history so there is scope for the left-handed opener to break the record even if he sumbles during the first Test against Sri Lanka at Headingley.
“You’d by lying if you were to say you’re not thinking about it,” said Cook. “It will be a nice moment to join an elite band of Test cricketers.”
“If the moment does come this week it would be great personally. I have managed to score consistent runs for England over 10 years, and that gives me more pride than being compared to anyone else.”
Despite a 2-1 series victory against South Africa during the winter, Cook was part of a top-order, including fellow opener Alex Hales and Nick Compton, that collectively failed to fire. England’s selectors have retained the trio and Cook has called for improvements.
“We played some really good cricket in patches in South Africa, but one aspect was the top-order runs,” added Cook. “We didn’t really nail that. There were contributions, yes, but not real consistency.”
Hampshire captain James Vince is set to make his Test debut at No5 in place of the retired James Taylor, while seamer Steven Finn has been given the nod over Jake Ball.