Alastair Cook has been backed to become the top run-scorer in Test history by England coach Trevor Bayliss.
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However England’s James Anderson has topped the Rankings for Test Bowlers for the first time in his career after bowling his side to a nine wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second Test at Chester le Street on Monday.
Only against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates have England come up short, and they have already taken an unassailable lead over Sri Lanka before next week’s third and final Test at Lord’s. This was also Cook’s 128th Test and 229th innings; Cook also has 28 Test centuries to his name – another England record.
All that being said, however, Cook has a very long way to go to being held in the same regard as Tendulkar.
Cook is unlikely ever to play white ball worldwide cricket again having been dropped from the one-day side prior to last year’s 50-over World Cup. His powers of concentration are vast.
It was the eighth ball of the England second innings that he clipped through leg side for four, a trademark stroke that he has played thousands of times since his debut in 2006. The 31-year-old Essex batsman, who struck a boundary to join an 11-strong group of players to achieve the feat, said: “I don’t think it whistled, I think it trickled over!”
But they were undone once again by Jimmy Anderson who reached his own milestone of 450 Test wickets [finishing with 451] as he closed out the match with the 21st five wicket haul of his career and match figures of 8-93.
Cook completed 10,000 Test runs at the age of 31 years, 5 months and 5 days.
But Bayliss indicated Finn and struggling number three batsman Nick Compton, another Middlesex man, would get a fair run to prove their worth. Yet Compton, despite an unbeaten 22 that helped England chase down 79 to win by nine wickets at Durham, has still not scored more than 44 in any form of cricket this summer.
England’s captain Alastair Cook leaves the field after his team beat Sri Lanka. “Who knows [how many runs I can score]”, he replied to the question. All that hard work, the effort, the lows and highs as well.
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But it was the personal milestone, becoming the first Englishman to reach 10,000 and the youngest player ever, which dominated thoughts.
