England’s One Of All-Time Greats Retires From All Cricket, Click Here To Know
Alastair Cook (X.com)
Alastair Cook, one of his generation's undisputed batsmen and the highest Test run-scorer for England, has announced his retirement from the professional game of cricket.
The 38-year-old will not be playing any longer; his county club Essex confirmed the news on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Friday (October 13).
Here's what Alastair Cook said while making the announcement:
"Today I am announcing my retirement and the end of my career as a professional cricketer. It is not easy to say goodbye. For more than two decades, cricket has been so much more than my job. It has allowed me to experience places I never dreamed I would go, be part of teams that have achieved things I would never have thought possible and, most importantly, created deep friendships that will last a lifetime."
"From the eight-year-old boy who first played for Wickham Bishops Under 11s to now, I end with a strange feeling of sadness mixed with pride. Although above all, I am incredibly happy. It is the right time for this part of my life to come to an end. I have always given absolutely everything I possibly have to be the best player I could be, but now I want to make way for the new generation to take over."
In 2003, Cook made his Essex debut. Having amassed over 12,000 Test runs for his nation, he retired from Test cricket at the conclusion of the 2018 summer. He stayed with his home county for the next five seasons, aiding the team in winning the Division One championship in 2019 and the Bob Willis Trophy the following year during the period.
With almost 1,000 first-class runs in 2022 and 836 runs this summer, Cook was going strong in the previous County Championship season. However, his average dropped to 33.44, as there were only one century in the season, bringing his total first-class tally to 74 hundreds.
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