Look up Alistair in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Alasdair (also Alistair and variants) is a male given name. Alasdair is the Scottish Gaelic spelling of the name, in origin the Gaelic form of the name Alexander (Greek Αλέξανδρος Alexandros). Also common is the anglicised spelling Alistair.^[1]

Originally a Scottish given name, it became widespread throughout the Anglosphere during the 19th and 20th centuries.

The Scottish Clan MacAlister is on record as a branch of Clan Donald from the mid 16th century. Its eponymous founder is traditionally held to be Alasdair Mòr (fl. 1250s), a younger son of Domhnall mac Raghnaill.

Variations[link]

Spelling variants of the name include: ^[1][2]

Alastair, Alasdair, Alasdhair, Alasteir, Alastar, Alaster, Alastor, Alaisdair, Alaistair, Alaister, Aleister, Alester, Alistair, Alistar, Alister, Allaistar, Allaster, Allastir, Allistair, Allister, Allistir, Allysdair, Allystair, Allyster, Alysdair, Alysdare, Alystair, Alyster, Allastair, Aldair

People[link]

It has been suggested that Alasdair#People_named_Alasdair be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since December 2011.

medieval

• Alasdair Mòr (fl. 1250s)
• Alexander Óg (d. 1308)
• Alexander of Argyll (d. 1310)
• Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross (d. 1449)

modern

• Alister MacKenzie (1870-1934), British golf course designer
• Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), British occultist
• Alastair Sim (1900-1976), comedy actor^[3]
• Alistair Cooke (1908-2004), journalist and broadcaster^[4]
• Alastair Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught (1914-1943), a great-grandson of Queen Victoria
• Alistair MacLean (1922-1987), Scottish novelist
• Alistair Taylor (1935-2004), personal assistant to Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein

living people^{[year needed]}

• Alistair Abell, Canadian voice actor
• Alistair Appleton, Television host
• Alastair Robinson, Anglo-American field botanist
• Alastair Baxter, Australian rugby union player ^[5]
• Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's former director of communications
• Alastair Cook, English cricketer
• Alistair Darling, British politician^[6]
• Alastair MacKenzie, Scottish actor most famous for playing Archie MacDonald in Monarch of the Glen
• Alistair McGowan, English impressionist and comedian
• Alistair McGregor, Scottish field hockey goalkeeper
• Alistair Overeem, MMA Fighter
• Alastair Reynolds, Welsh science fiction author
• Alistair Sinclair, Computer scientist
• Alistair McCoist, Scottish Footballer

pseudonym

• Alastair, pseudonym of Baron Hans Henning Voigt, a German artist

In fiction[link]

• Alastair, a demon on the television series Supernatural
• Alistair Tudsbury, a British radio personality from The Winds of War
• Alistair, a main character from the video game Dragon Age: Origins
• Alistair, a vampire from Breaking Dawn novel
• Alastair, Boss Monster from Painkiller
• Allistair Tenpenny, an interactive NPC in the video game Fallout 3
• Alastor, a character from Viewtiful Joe
• Dr. Aleister Grout, the Malkavian primogen of Los Angeles, character in Vampire: The Masqurade Bloodlines role-playing game
• Alistair Leslie Graham, better known as Ali G, one of three fictional characters created and acted by Sasha Baron Cohen
• Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, Brigadier of UNIT on British science fiction show Doctor Who
• Alistair, word for avian women's husbands in the Kiesha'ra book series by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. Alasdair is also the original hawk shapeshifter.
• Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, a character in Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
• Alistair Smythe, a Spider-Man villain.
• Alistar, The Minotaur, a playable champion in the game League of Legends

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2010)

Alastair Campbell
Alastair Campbell, 2003
Director of Communications and Strategy
In office 15 July 2000 – 29 August 2003
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Downing Street Press Secretary
In office 2 May 1997 – 15 July 2000
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Personal details
Born	Alastair John Campbell (1957-05-25) 25 May 1957 (age 55) Yorkshire, England, UK
Political party	Labour
Domestic partner	Fiona Millar[citation needed]
Children	3[citation needed]
Alma mater	Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Occupation	Journalist, author, broadcaster
Religion	None (atheist)[1]
Signature	Alastair Campbell's signature

Alastair John Campbell (born 25 May 1957) is a British journalist, broadcaster, political aide and author, best known for his work as Director of Communications and Strategy for Prime Minister Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003. Campbell describes himself as a "Communicator, Writer and Strategist"^[2] on his website, while others have described him as Labour's "unelected, but ... hardly underscrutinised" spin doctor.^[3]

Early and personal life[link]

Alastair John Campbell was born on 25 May 1957 in Yorkshire, son of a Scottish veterinary surgeon, Donald Campbell, and his wife Elizabeth.^[4] Campbell's parents had moved to Keighley when his father became a partner in a local veterinary practice. Donald was a Gaelic-speaker from the island of Tiree; his wife was from Ayrshire.^[5] Campbell has two elder brothers, Donald and Graeme, and a younger sister, Elizabeth. Even though Alastair was born in Yorkshire, he would go over the county border to Lancashire to watch Burnley Football Club with his father, Donald.^[6]

He attended Bradford Grammar School for a short period of time, followed by City of Leicester Boys' Grammar School and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge,^[4] where he studied modern languages, French and German, for which he received an upper second (2:1). He later claimed he wrote essays based solely on works of literary criticism, often rather than having read the works themselves. He spent a year in the south of France as part of his degree course.

Campbell became interested in journalism. His first published work was Inter-City Ditties, his winning entry to a readers' competition in the pornographic magazine Forum. This led to a lengthy stint writing pieces for the magazine with such titles as Busking with Bagpipes and The Riviera Gigolo, written in a style calculated to lead readers at the time to believe they were descriptions of his own sexual exploits.^[7]

Campbell became a sports reporter on the Tavistock Times. His first significant contribution to the news pages was coverage of the Penlee lifeboat disaster. As a trainee on the Plymouth-based Sunday Independent, then owned by Mirror Group Newspapers, he met his partner Fiona Millar, with whom he has three children, two sons (born November 1987 and July 1989) and a daughter (born May 1993). Campbell is an atheist.^[8]

National newspapers[link]

Campbell moved to the London office of the Daily Mirror in 1982, England's sole remaining big-circulation supporter of the Labour Party. He became a political correspondent before moving to The Today newspaper in 1986, a full-colour tabloid newspaper which was now trying to turn leftward where he worked as a news editor. His rapid rise and its accompanying stress led to alcohol abuse.^[9]

Alcoholism and depression[link]

Campbell was admitted to hospital in 1986 when he travelled to Scotland to cover Neil Kinnock's visit to Glasgow. He was detained by the police for his own safety after being observed behaving oddly. Police contacted his partner and following her calls to friends in Scotland the police let a family friend take Campbell to Ross Hall Hospital, a private BMI hospital in Glasgow where she and her father visited him. Over the next five days as an inpatient he was given medication to calm him, and he realised that he had an alcohol problem after seeing the psychiatrist. Campbell said that from that day onwards he counted each one that he did not drink alcohol, and did not stop counting until he had reached thousands.^[9]

Campbell returned to England, preferring to stay with friends near Cheltenham, rather than return to London (and his partner) where he did not feel safe. His condition continued with a phase of depression^[10], and he was reluctant to seek further medical help. He eventually cooperated with treatment from his family doctor.^[9]

Return to work[link]

His first son was born in 1987; and when Campbell returned to the Daily Mirror, he had to restart at a low grade again and work nightshifts, but rebuilt his career and became political editor.^[9]

He was a close advisor of Neil Kinnock, going on holiday with the Kinnocks, and worked closely with Robert Maxwell. Campbell's loyalty to Maxwell was demonstrated when he punched The Guardian journalist Michael White after White joked about "Captain Bob, Bob, Bob...bobbing" in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after Maxwell's drowning in 1991.^[11] Campbell later put this down to stress at the thought of himself and others losing their job following the demise of the Daily Mirror proprietor.^[12][13]

After leaving the Mirror in 1994, Campbell became political editor of Today. He was working there when John Smith died in 1994. He was a well-known face and helped to interview the three candidates for the new Labour Party leader; it was later revealed he had already formed links with Tony Blair.

Politics and government[link]

Shortly after Blair won and became leader of the Labour Party in 1994, Campbell left Today to become his spokesman. Having recovered and become teetotal, he told Blair about his illness, which Blair did not see as a problem.^[14] He played an important role in the run-up to the 1997 general election, working with Peter Mandelson to co-ordinate Labour's campaign. He also worked hard to win support from the national media for the Labour Party, particularly from the newspapers who for many years had been anti-Labour. By March 1997, many of the leading newspapers – including The Sun, once a staunch Thatcherite paper – had declared their support for Labour.^[15]

He moved into government when Labour won the general election in May 1997 and was the Prime Minister's chief press secretary until 2000. He then moved to the post of Prime Minister's Director of Communications which gave him a strategic role in overseeing government communications. He was sponsored by the US President George W. Bush to complete the London marathon in aid of a cancer charity, Leukaemia Research.

Iraq War[link]

In the runup to the Iraq War Campbell was involved in the preparation and release of the "September Dossier" in September 2002 and the "Iraq Dossier" in February 2003. These documents argued the case for concern over possible weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in Iraq. Both have been criticized as overstating or distorting the actual intelligence findings. Subsequent investigation revealed that the September Dossier had been altered, on Campbell's orders, to be consistent with a speech given by George W. Bush and statements by other United States officials. On 9 September 2002, Campbell sent a memo to John Scarlett, the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, in which Campbell directed that the British dossier be "one that complements rather than conflicts with" the U.S. claims.^[16]

Later in 2003, commenting on WMDs in Iraq he said, "Come on, you don't seriously think we won't find anything?".^[17] He resigned in August 2003 during the Hutton Inquiry into the death of David Kelly. (Kelly's view that the government grossly exaggerated the Iraqi threat in the notorious 'dodgy dossier', told to BBC journalists Andrew Gilligan and Susan Watts, had led to Campbell battling with the BBC. "The government was determined to use Dr Kelly in its battle against the BBC, and he and Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon had taken the decision, in Campbell's words, 'to fuck Gilligan'. The counsel for the Kelly family said to Lord Hutton: 'The family invite the inquiry to find that the government made a deliberate decision to use Dr Kelly as a pawn as part of its strategy in its battle with the BBC.')^[18]

Campbell gave evidence to the Iraq Inquiry on 12 January 2011.^[19]

Later career[link]

Campbell with cricketers Ian Botham, Bob Willis and David Gower, with politician James Erskine.

Campbell worked again for the Labour Party in the run-up to the May 2005 general election. Sir Clive Woodward recruited Campbell to manage relations with the press for the British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand in 2005. Campbell wrote a column for The Times during the tour.

Throughout his time in Downing Street, Campbell kept a diary which reportedly totalled some two million words. Selected extracts, titled The Blair Years, were published on 9 July 2007. Subsequent press coverage of the book's release included coverage of what Campbell had chosen to leave out, particularly in respect of the relationship between Blair and his Chancellor and successor, Gordon Brown. Campbell expressed an intention to one day publish the diaries in fuller form, and indicated in the introduction to the book that he did not wish to make matters harder for Brown in his new role as Prime Minister, or to damage the Labour Party.

Campbell has his own website and blog, as well as several pages on social networking websites.^[20] He uses these platforms to discuss British politics and other topics close to his heart. So far, Campbell's commentaries and views have garnered media attention and generated ample interest among various on-line communities. In October 2008, he broadcast the personal story of his mental illness in a television documentary partly to reduce the stigma of that illness.^[9] He has written a novel on the subject entitled All in the Mind.

Campbell appeared as a mentor in the BBC Two series The Speaker in April 2009 offering his advice on persuasive speaking.^[21] He is a lifelong supporter of Burnley Football Club and writes about their exploits in a column called "Turf Moor Diaries" for the FanHouse UK football blog .^[22] He is regularly involved in many different events with Burnley Football Club.^[23]

Campbell made his first appearance on the BBC One political discussion programme Question Time on 27 May 2010. At the opening of the edition, presenter David Dimbleby said that Downing Street would not allow a front bench member of the government to appear on the show unless Campbell was dropped. The BBC refused to do this. The Government later accused the BBC of behaving improperly for allowing Campbell to appear as a more in-depth version of his diaries was due to be published the following week, and a Downing Street spokesman told The Guardian, "Campbell seemed to be on because he's flogging a book next week, so the BBC haven't behaved entirely properly here."^[24] Campbell said that he had waited until Labour were in opposition before appearing on the show and that the date was a coincidence as it was the only time he was free. He suggested the discord was part of a Conservative anti-BBC agenda.^[24] The Minister who had been scheduled to appear was the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws who Campbell produced a picture of during the programme. Three days later Laws resigned his post following revelations about possible irregularities in his expenses claims in The Telegraph the day before.

Campbell appeared on BBC's Top Gear in July 2010 and set a time of 1:47 around the Top Gear Test Track in the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car segment, setting the second fastest time around the track at that time.

He also took part in the 2011 Channel Four television series Jamie's Dream School.

In June 2012 he was guest presenter of Have I Got News For You.

In 2011, Campbell contacted the Metropolitan Police with suspicions that his phone was hacked by the News of the World in 2003.^[25]

Campbell presented and narrated the 20 February 2012 edition of Panorama, which was entitled Britain's Hidden Alcoholics. In the programme, Campbell stated that he is an alcoholic, although he has not drunk alcohol since 1986.

Stage and screen portrayals[link]

A regular feature of Bremner, Bird and Fortune is a satirical version of Campbell's discussions with Tony Blair, in which Rory Bremner plays Blair and Andrew Dunn plays Campbell. In 2005, Campbell was played by Jonathan Cake in the Channel 4 television film The Government Inspector, based on the David Kelly Case. The following year, he was portrayed by Mark Bazeley in the Stephen Frears film The Queen - a role reprised by Bazeley in 2010 follow-up The Special Relationship, also written by Peter Morgan but this time directed by Richard Loncraine. Alex Jennings, who portrayed Prince Charles in The Queen, portrayed Campbell in the television drama A Very Social Secretary.^[26] In an episode of Dead Ringers his close relationship with Tony Blair is satirized in an imaginary scenario where Tony is divorcing his wife. He is asked if it will be difficult to sack the person he most loves and cherishes replying "I'm not sacking Alastair Campbell"

It is also hinted that the character of Malcolm Tucker from the BBC political satire comedy The Thick of It is loosely based on Campbell. Tucker is famous for his short fuse and use of very strong language. Campbell himself seems to have a few qualms about being associated with the character. In an interview with Mark Kermode on BBC2's The Culture Show, he denied that the two are similar in any relevant way, but admitted to his liberal use of profanities in the workplace.^[27]

Selected works[link]

• The Blair Years (2007). Random House. ISBN 0-09-951475-3^[28][29][30]
• All in the Mind (2008). Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-192578-9^[31]
• Maya (2010). Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-193087-1^[32]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Jones, Nicholas (2000). Sultans of Spin: The Media and the New Labour Government. Orion Books. ISBN 0-7528-2769-3.
• Oborne, Peter and Simon Walters (2004). Alastair Campbell. Aurum. ISBN 1-84513-001-4
• Rawnsley, Andrew (2001). Servants of the People: The Inside Story of New Labour. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-027850-8.
• Seldon, Anthony (2005). Blair. The Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-3212-7.

External links[link]

• www.alastaircampbell.org official website
• Article archive at The Guardian
• Article archive at Journalisted
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Alastair Campbell on Charlie Rose
• Alastair Campbell at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Alastair Campbell in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Alastair Campbell collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Alastair Campbell collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Profile: Alastair Campbell, BBC News, 29 August 2003
• Campbell defiant over Lions role, BBC News, 20 July 2005
• Leukaemia Research, the charity Alastair Campbell fundraises for

v t e Alastair Campbell Family Fiona Millar Books The Blair Years All in the Mind Maya The Uncut Diaries: Diaries Volume One: Prelude to Power 1994-1997

This article's lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (November 2010)

Adam Boulton
Adam Boulton in March 2008
Born	(1959-02-15) 15 February 1959 (age 53) Reading, Berkshire
Education	Oxford University Johns Hopkins University
Occupation	Journalist
Notable credit(s)	Political Editor Sky News
Spouse	Anji Hunter

Thomas Adam Babbington Boulton (born 15 February 1959 in Reading, Berkshire) is political editor of the British television channel Sky News, a post he has held since being asked to establish the politics team for the launch of the channel in 1989.

Early life[link]

Boulton's father was a doctor but rather than follow him into the medical profession young Adam had an ambition to go into broadcasting. He attended Tower House Preparatory School in south-west London and Westminster School where he took A-levels in English, mathematics, physics and chemistry^[1] He then studied at the University of Oxford and Johns Hopkins University where he gained degrees in English and International Relations.^[2][3][4]

Career[link]

Before joining Sky News, Boulton worked as a journalist in the parliamentary "lobby". He was then political editor for TV-am, where his colleague was Kay Burley who later joined Sky News. It was during the 1987 general election that he was punched by Denis Healey after Anne Diamond asked Healey about his wife using private healthcare; the incident was witnessed by gossip columnist Nigel Dempster.^[5]

Boulton presents Boulton & Co from 1pm to 2pm Monday to Friday on the channel and also maintains a blog on the Sky News website. While he does not have a regular weekday show of his own, he does frequently appear during the week to report on breaking political stories. He has interviewed every British Prime Minister from Gordon Brown back to Sir Alec Douglas-Home, international stars and influential figures. On 15 June 2008 he became the first British television reporter to conduct a joint interview of U.S. President George W. Bush and his wife Laura.

He also presents PMQs, on a Wednesday evening with regular guests to discuss the performance of ministers involved in the House of Commons earlier in the day and more seriously, the legislation and ideas that they present to the house.

He has written for newspapers and magazines including The Times, Sunday Times, Guardian, Spectator, New Statesman and Independent. He has been a guest of programmes such as Newsnight, Bremner, Bird and Fortune and Have I Got News For You.

He is a winner of the Royal Television Society's supreme Judge's Award and was elected 2007 Chairman of the Parliamentary Lobby.

Boulton was based in Washington, D.C. from January 2009, covering the First 100 days of Barack Obama's Presidency of the United States for Sky News.

On 22 April 2010, during the UK General Election campaign, Boulton hosted Sky News' 'Leaders' Debate' live from Bristol, the second in a series of three televised debates between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg produced, in turn, and on consecutive Thursdays, by ITV News, Sky News and the BBC.

On 10 May 2010, while covering events on the aftermath of the 2010 general election Boulton lost his composure with former 10 Downing Street Director of Communications, Alastair Campbell defending his impartiality in a live on-air interview after Campbell accused Boulton of political bias in favour of the Conservatives. Boulton shouted at Campbell: "Don't tell me what I think".^[6] At the time both Labour and the Conservatives were trying to broker a deal with the Liberal Democrats aimed at forming a coalition government. A similar disagreement occurred later on that evening in an exchange with Ben Bradshaw.^[7] The media regulator Ofcom received several hundred complaints about the Campbell incident from viewers.^[8] During the campaign he had been asked to calm down by Peter Mandelson when he questioned him about possible spending cuts that the Financial Times believed would have to be made following the election.^[9] He was also accused of bias for the way he questioned Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, it was claimed in contravention of the pre-established rules, during the Leader's debate hosted by Sky News. Ofcom rejected the complaints ^[10] On the 20th January 2011 Boulton once again interviewed Alastair Campbell on Sky News, ahead of Tony Blair's appearance in front of the Iraq Inquiry. Both apologised about the incident and shook hands at the end of the interview.

Personal life[link]

Boulton divorced his first wife after his affair with Tony Blair's spin doctor Anji Hunter became front page tabloid news in 2002.^[11] Both have children from their previous marriages. The couple married at St James's Church, Piccadilly on the 22 July 2006, in a wedding attended by Blair and a number of current and former ministers, including David Blunkett, Tessa Jowell and Peter Hain, as well as Mick Hucknall and BP boss Lord Browne.^[12]

Bibliography[link]

• Tony's Ten Years: Memories of the Blair Administration (2008) Simon & Schuster
• Hung Together: The 2010 Election and the Coalition Government with Joey Jones (2010) Simon & Schuster

References[link]

External links[link]

• Boulton and Co
• Adam Boulton's biography from Sky News
• Images
• Articles By Adam Boulton

v t e Sky News in the United Kingdom British Sky Broadcasting Programmes Sky News Sunrise The Live Desk Sky News Today Boulton & Co Afternoon Live Live at Five Jeff Randall Live News, Sport & Weather Sky News at Ten Sky News Tonight Sky Midnight News CBS Evening News Sky News On The Hour Sky World News Saturday Live Weekend Lunchtime Sky News at Seven Murnaghan Reporters and presenters Main Anna Botting Adam Boulton Colin Brazier Lukwesa Burak Kay Burley Stephen Dixon Lorna Dunkley Charlotte Hawkins Eamonn Holmes Sarah Hewson Gillian Joseph Mark Longhurst Dermot Murnaghan Jeff Randall Samantha Simmonds Martin Stanford Jeremy Thompson Andrew Wilson Business Dharshini David Joel Hills Sport Jacquie Beltrao Rob Curling Jon Desborough Karthi Gnanasegaram Lisa Knights Sarah-Jane Mee Nick Powell Chris Skudder Matt Teale Charlie Thomas Graeme Winch Weather Nazaneen Ghaffar Isobel Lang Denise Nurse Jo Wheeler Other Philippa Hall Anna Jones Ashish Joshi Lisa Knights Sarah-Jane Mee Paula Middlehurst Tim Marshall Gemma Morris Chloe Potter Jayne Secker Matt Smith Category

Alastair Cook
MBE

Personal information
Full name	Alastair Nathan Cook
Born	(1984-12-25) 25 December 1984 (age 27) Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England
Nickname	Woody, Cooky, Chef, Golden Boy
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Batting style	Left-hand
Bowling style	Right-arm off break
Role	Opening batsman, England ODI captain
International information
National side	England
Test debut	1 March 2006 v India
Last Test	25 January 2012 v Pakistan
ODI debut	28 June 2006 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	21 February 2012 v Pakistan
ODI shirt no.	26
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2002	Bedfordshire
2003	Essex Cricket Board
2003–present	Essex (squad no. 26)
2004–2007	MCC
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	75	45	164	98
Runs scored	6,184	1,781	12,808	3,560
Batting average	48.69	41.41	47.97	40.45
100s/50s	19/28	4/11	37/63	8/21
Top score	294	137	294	137
Balls bowled	6	–	270	18
Wickets	0	–	6	0
Bowling average	–	–	34.16	–
5 wickets in innings	0	–	0	0
10 wickets in match	0	–	0	n/a
Best bowling	0/1	–	3/13	0/5
Catches/stumpings	67/–	17/–	152/–	40/–
Source: Cricinfo, 9 April 2012

Alastair Nathan Cook, MBE (born 25 December 1984) is an English international cricket player. He is a left-handed opening batsman who plays county cricket for Essex and International cricket for England, where he is their ODI captain. Cook played for Essex's Academy and made his debut for the first XI in 2003. He has played in a variety of England's youth teams from 2000 until his call up to the Test side in 2006.

While touring in the West Indies with the ECB National Academy, Cook was called up to the England national team in India as a last-minute replacement for Marcus Trescothick and debuted with a century. Debuting at 21 years of age, Cook went on to become the youngest Englishman to reach 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 and 6,000 test runs, making centuries in his first Test matches against India, Pakistan, the West Indies and Bangladesh. He is also the only Englishman to score seven Test centuries before his 23rd birthday.^[1]

Despite this prodigious flurry of runs, Cook came under criticism throughout 2008 for a lack of centuries; he replied in 2009 with two centuries, as well as a score of 95 against Australia to help seal England's first victory against them at Lord's since 1934. He took seven catches in the series, including the final wicket, to win the 2009 Ashes series. After deputising as Test captain in 2010, Cook went on to play another pivotal role in retaining the 2010-11 Ashes series, breaking records by scoring the second highest number of runs in a Test series by an Englishman, including his maiden first-class double-hundred and two further hundreds, and batting for over 35 hours during the series.^[2]

Cook was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours.^[3][4]

Early life and education[link]

Born in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, Alastair Cook is one of several players of mixed Anglo-Welsh heritage to play for England; his mother Stephanie is a teacher from Swansea,^[5] while his father Graham worked as a BT engineer as well as being a village cricketer.^[6][7][8] Cook is a keen musician. By the age of eight, he was learning the clarinet, and joined St Paul's Cathedral School as a chorister, where he boarded under a rigorous schedule of rehearsals, whilst also learning the clarinet.^[6][9] Cook later claimed the amount of focus and concentration required to keep practising while undergoing regular school hours helped with his batting. During his Summer holidays, he would play cricket for Maldon Cricket Club, and by the age of 11 he was already playing for their adult side on the Third XI. He played sporadically for them over seven years, with an average of 168 in his final year at a club of which he is now an honourary life member.^[6]

Cook's musical flair led to him being granted a scholarship to Bedford School when he was 13, also as a boarder.^[10] While being educated in Bedford, he also learned to play piano and saxophone.^[8] However, music was soon eclipsed when the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) came to play against the Bedford XI. The visiting side were a man short and drafted the 14-year-old new boy to play against his school; Cook scored a century.^[10][6] Over the next four years, he hit 17 centuries and two double-hundreds, to total 4,396 runs at an average of 87.90, captaining the cricket team in his final year, as well as being president of the music society. He also gained three A-Levels and nine GCSEs in his time there.^[10] In his final year at Bedford, in 2003, he scored 1,287 runs for the school, including two unbeaten double-hundreds, averaging 160.87 to take the school record.^[11] After his international success, Cook returned for an Old Boys match at Bedford in 2008, playing for the HM Ultimate XI.^[12]

Playing career[link]

County cricket[link]

Debut (2003–2005)[link]

Having already been a member of the Essex Academy since the age of 15,^[13] Cook was given his first-class debut for Essex County Cricket Club coming straight out of school at the end of the 2003 season against Nottinghamshire; put in to field he aided the first dismissal with a catch before falling short at 13 runs in his first innings but pushing Essex to a nine wicket victory with 69 not out in the second.^[14][15] Despite relegation being assured to Essex, Cook still battled away with an opening stand of 122 opposite Will Jefferson in the second innings of his second match, against Warwickshire.^[16] In the six innings he participated in, he quickly racked up three half centuries^[11] at an average of 47.80.^[17] Having solidified his place as opener in the county team, he made his maiden first-class century against Leicestershire in May 2004 with 126^[18] opposite Jefferson's 128 for a 265 opening stand, Essex's third highest^[13] but failed to secure promotion for the team.

His exploits in his single season gained him enough attention to be brought in as the opening batsmen for the MCC in 2005 season's opener against County Champions Warwickshire. With a century in the first innings and a near attempt at 97 in the second, Cook helped secure victory in a match destined for a draw.^[19] The season opener would not be Cook's only highlight for the year, as The Ashes approached Australia were touring the counties and in a two-day match which sadly did not count towards his first-class statistics, Cook scored a double century went on to take the first wicket of Justin Langer with a catch in the drawn match^[20] days after being awarded PCA Young Cricketer of the Year.^[21] A further highlight of the season saw Cook help Essex to score one of Durham's two defeats of the season, scoring 107 of Essex's 245 before taking his maiden first-class wicket, before taking another two, with his off-spin.^[11] Cook played in every first-class match for Essex and also helped them clinch the Totesport League Title for the first time in 20 years.^[13] The end of the season saw Cook finish with an average of 48.03 in the County Championship, hitting four centuries.^[22]

Essex and England (2006–present)[link]

Cook playing for Essex in 2010.

After his England call up, Cook's appearances at Essex significantly reduced. In the County Championship he appeared in only three matches, making two hundreds and another two fifties in his five innings, topping the season averages with an inflated 141.3.^[23] Similarly in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy he appeared only three times and again topped the batting averages, only being out once with a top score of 91 and average of 148.^[24] He scored less favourably in his one Twenty20 Cup appearance, scoring only nine runs.^[25] In the 2007 season, for Essex alone his first-class average was only 58.8 from three appearances, making two hundreds but countering this with one duck^[26] and he made a similar century/duck appearance in the (formerly C&G) Friends Provident Trophy during his 5 matches averaging 38.4.^[27] The back to back Totesport/Pro40 champions saw Cook make only one appearance in that competition, scoring 81 not out,^[28] before being relegated. They won Division Two and were promoted the following season, though Cook only provided 11 runs in one innings during the tournament.^[29] Despite his international commitments Cook managed to participate in at least one match of each tournament averaging only 36.16 in three County Championship matches^[30] and a disappointing 15 in his one Twenty20 match.^[31] Given time off the South Africa One-Day series, Cook favoured better in the FP Trophy with 45.3 from 3 matches^[32] including contributing the second highest in the final at Lord's to seal the trophy.^[33]

The 2009 English season featured an early Test series against the West Indies where, despite being in the Test team, Cook joined Essex in a tour match. He scored 76 not out in the second innings before the match was rained off, stopping Essex pressing for victory.^[34] Before the Test series he helped Essex force the follow on against Kent in the County Championship but faltered with his team, scoring only 4 in the second innings to lose by 192 runs.^[35] After the Test series, Cook was omitted from the one day side leaving him free to play for Essex. He joined them in their bid to defend their Friends Provident Trophy matching Varun Chopra's 65 in a 124 run partnership against Lancashire to gain a place in the semi-final.^[36] He and his team could not recreate that magic for the semi-final, at the same location against the same team three days later, after being caught from a fine running catch by Sajid Mahmood, seeing the team lose by 67 runs.^[37] Having been knocked out of the FP Trophy, the team turned to the Twenty20 Cup. Making only his fourth appearance in the tournament since 2005, Cook smashed 80 off 56 balls in a vain effort against Kent that was rained off.^[38] While his England partner Bopara shone against Sussex, Cook only scored one but made up for this with a 60 run partnership with Bopara days later to put Essex top of the table.^[39][40] Despite averaging 49 from these four games, Cook felt he was a long way from the international squad.^[41] In his last performance before joining with the Ashes squad, Cook scored a 57 ball century, carrying his bat through the innings as they crushed Surrey^[42] but without Cook and Bopara, the team were knocked out after two successive losses.^[43]

International career[link]

Youth cricket (2000–2006)[link]

Cook had his first taste of international cricket playing the U15 World Cup in 2000. Three years later Cook was called up to the Under 19 England team for their tour of South Africa.^[13] After it was decided Samit Patel had enough responsibility batting and bowling, Cook was appointed captain of the team the following year, 2004.^[44] His first call of duty was the U19 World Cup in the West Indies where he guided England through the group stages and on past the Super League stage, including an unbeaten century-each partnership with Patel against New Zealand,^[45] and continued a 100% win record with 87 over eventual winners Pakistan^[46] before falling short in the semi-final against the West Indies.^[47] He went on from there to captain them in a U19 Test win over Bangladesh^[48] before taking the One-Day series too.^[49] His career with the Under 19 team was cut short when Kevin Pietersen was called up to replace Andrew Flintoff in the main team, leaving a spot in England A's tour of Sri Lanka for Cook.^[50] After the 2005 domestic season he was part of the intake for the ECB National Academy, but this was interrupted as he flew to Pakistan to cover the squad for Michael Vaughan's knee injury.^[22] After not being used in the first XI he travelled back with the Academy to the West Indies in the new year scoring 101 in a two-day match against Antigua before youth cricket came to an abrupt halt for Cook.^[51]

Debut year (2006)[link]

Cook was included in the ECB National Academy in the winter of 2005–06. The Academy's tour of the West Indies was cut short on 24 February for Cook who only appeared in the first innings, scoring only 6, before being called up, alongside James Anderson and Owais Shah, to the England team's tour of India^[52] to replace captain Michael Vaughan who was suffering from a knee injury and opener Marcus Trescothick who was suffering from stress.^[53] Unlike Shah and Anderson, Cook was welcomed straight into the England XI and made his Test debut aged 21, days after he had flown in from the West Indies. He made an instant impact, opening with Andrew Strauss and scoring a half century in the first innings before being bowled just before tea on the first day for 60 runs from 160 balls being the second top scorer after 134 from Paul Collingwood.^[54] The second innings would prove to cement him in cricket history as he went on to score 104 not out before England declared,^[55] making him the sixteenth Englishman to score a century on his debut Test^[53][56] and an even more exclusive list of five to score 100 and 50 in their first Test.^[57] His hundred was also the 3,000th century in Test cricket.^[58] Despite being known for a patient style of play, an impending declaration forced Cook to play quickly to bring up the century; regardless, the match was drawn.^[59] After a mediocre outing in the losing second Test, scoring 17 and 2,^[60] he missed the Third Test due to a stomach illness^[61] and was omitted from the one-day series.^[62]

Returning home, Cook was again selected for the first XI during Sri Lanka's tour. For his debut match at Lord's, Cook was shuffled down to third to make way for the returning Trescothick. However, he still walked to the crease alongside his teammate as Strauss fell at the stroke of lunch.^[63] Cook and Trescothick put on 127 in their partnership as Trescothick made a century while Cook later stumbled just before at 89;^[64] there was no second innings as England forced the follow-on but were one wicket away from victory with Cook being targeted among others for two significant dropped catches.^[65] Cook's first taste of victory came in the second Test, guiding the team past the target of 78 in the second innings with an unbeaten 34 alongside Andrew Flintoff furthering the reputation of his calm, meticulous style of play against the dangerous spin of Muttiah Muralitharan who took 4–29.^[66] Although not initially selected for the one-day series, Cook made his limited overs debut in the fourth match scoring 39 from 38 balls in a bright spot of an otherwise dour England performance hampered by injuries.^[67]

Cook in catching practice during The Ashes tour

At the start of the following series against Pakistan, Cook recorded his second Test century, gaining him a spot on the boards at Lord's alongside Ian Bell and Collingwood, though he only managed four in the second innings.^[68] He and Bell both recorded back to back centuries by the following Test at Old Trafford as well as Cook scoring his then-career best 127 in an innings defeat over Pakistan. In what now seemed a pattern, Cook's century came up while partnering with Collingwood as with his previous two.^[69] In the controversial forfeited Test, sometimes called Ovalgate, Cook contributed a first innings top score of 40 and second best 83 before Pakistan refused to return to the field.^[70] This score secured Cook's tally of runs, 403, as the second highest scorer for England and third overall in the series.^[71] Once again Cook was overlooked in the one day series.^[72] At the end of the season he was again awarded the Young Player of the Year award as well as being shortlisted for ICC Emerging Player of the Year.^[13]

As well as the one day series against Pakistan, Cook was overlooked for the 2006 Champions Trophy squad. However, he was named for the 2006–07 Ashes series touring party and when Trescothick pulled out once again due to stress, Cook re-earned a spot as an opener for the foreseeable future.^[73] In the disastrous 5 Test whitewash, Cook failed to impress in the first two Tests, but during a two day warm-up he retired with a century and afterwards remained adamant that he and England would make a turn around in the series.^[74] With England desperately chasing 577 runs, or a draw to not lose the Ashes, Cook stayed at the crease for over six hours, lasting almost all of the fourth day to earn his maiden Ashes century (119) before being caught behind off Glenn McGrath just shy of three overs before the close of play. This was his fourth Test century before turning 22, no England player had scored more than two by the same age.^[75] With only three other batsmen scoring double figures, England lost the Test and the Ashes^[76] and despite only having an average of 27.6 runs,^[77] Cook scored one of only three English centuries on the tour and also on 28 December 2006 in Melbourne, Cook scored his thousandth Test run, the second cricketer to do this in their maiden year, after Mark Taylor.^[78]

West Indies, India and Sri Lanka (2007)[link]

After being omitted for the Twenty20 International against Australia and the 2007 World Cup,^[78] Cook found himself once again in favour for the home series against West Indies. Starting at Lord's, Cook found himself among four centurions in the opening innings with Collingwood opposite him once again, being one of only five Englishmen to hit as many centuries in 15 Tests and recorded another half century in the following innings to win his first Man of The Match award.^[79][80] After another half century in the second Test, Cook recorded another half century/century combination in the two innings at Old Trafford, his first innings sixty equating to the team's win margin.^[81] Cook was selected for his first Twenty20 International against the West Indies, in a losing effort where he scored 15 runs from 16 balls.^[82] This was followed by a disappointing one-day series for Cook, and England, who averaged 22 in 3 matches.^[83]

The following home series against India saw Cook continue his fine Test form despite England not winning a Test. He was the third highest scoring Englishman with an average of 37.^[84] During the first day of the second Test at Trent Bridge, Cook became the youngest English player to rack up 1,500 Test runs eclipsing the record held by David Gower.^[85] Cook played in six of the seven ensuing one-day matches, scoring his maiden ODI century in the first match alongside Ian Bell's 126 not out guiding England to a 104 win victory that propped up England's first one-day series victory since 2005.^[86][87] After two ducks, Cook was dropped in the final, decisive match.^[88][89]

After being omitted from the World Twenty20 Cook rejoined England in Sri Lanka making an outstanding contribution in both forms of the game. Starting with another ODI series victory, Cook battled with a stomach virus to top score 47 in a losing match^[90] and went on to be the second highest scoring batsmen in the series behind Chamara Silva with 155.^[91] Cook also picked up his first ODI Man of The Match award in the fourth game.^[92] After an unsuccessful first Test, Cook went on to be the top scoring Test batsmen for England too, scoring two half centuries in the second Test and 118 in the third match, at an average of 46.^[93] Up until this tour, Cook had held a strange record of having more Test centuries than half centuries^[94] but this century marked his last until March 2009 and Cook came under increasing criticism for his lack of ability to convert fifties to hundreds at the top of the order,^[95] yet maintained an average in the low forties.^[96]

Decline in form (2008–2009)[link]

England's tour of the antipodes continued as England toured New Zealand and Cook made a great start in the warm up matches, making a half century^[97] followed by an unbeaten 138^[98] the following day in limited overs matches. His style was still considered too slow for the following two Twenty20 Internationals and he failed to continue his form in the first ODI where he fell for 11 as part of an England collapse.^[99][100] The second match saw a similar collapse by England where Cook's 52 was the only real contribution until he was run out by fellow Essexian Ravi Bopara.^[101][102] The fourth one day match saw Cook and Phil Mustard prop up the innings with an opening stand of 158 before both being dismissed in successive balls, leading to a tied match.^[103][104] Although normally known for his slow but focussed repose with the bat, the first Test against New Zealand gave Cook a chance making three sharp catches in the first innings^[105] and mirroring his efforts with three even more spectacular catches in the second innings, the first two off Ryan Sidebottom who then went on to make a hat-trick with a final LBW,^[106] the match itself saw England collapse in the second innings for 110 with Cook being the only other player besides Ian Bell to make it into double figures.^[107] Incidentally, Cook's other catch in the second innings was also off Sidebottom to dismiss New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, a feat the pair reproduced in the second innings of the second Test^[108] and again in the first innings of the third Test.^[109] His batting meanwhile began its long road of decline scoring no more than sixty in the two Tests and falling for only two runs in the final match,^[109] though in the second Test he did secure another English record being the youngest Englishman at just over 23 years, to score 2,000 Test runs – again eclipsing Gower;^[110] two days later he recorded his first Test six after 2047 runs, including 233 boundaries, after an accidental top edge and ruined his chances of beating Vijay Manjrekar's 2,308 record.^[111]

Back home in England Cook failed to reproduce his legacy of Lord's centuries. Scoring 61 in the only England innings of the first Test^[112] which was his only score over fifty from the four innings in England's successful series.^[113] His poor form in the long format led to him being omitted for the Twenty20 series and all but the final one-day match.^[114]

Cook bowled his only Test over against South Africa at Lord's

With a year to go before the 2009 Ashes it was imperative for Cook to cement his position as opener in the home series against South Africa. Again, at Lord's, Cook made his way comfortably^[115] to a half-century before being dismissed for 60. A high team score, together with a benevolent wicket, saw the fifth day bring Cook's first Test over as a bowler: he conceded just one run.^[116] Cook fell in one innings of each Test between fifty and a hundred, amassing the considerable average of 47 for the series.^[117]

Once again Cook found himself omitted from the Twenty20 and one-day team both for the home series against South Africa as well as the majority of the away series in India, where a string of poor England performances saw him called up for the fifth and ultimately the final match after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.^[118] When the Tests arrived, Cook continued to notch a half-century in one innings of each match, but was outshone by opening partner Strauss's centuries.^[119]

After India, England went to the West Indies under the new captaincy of Andrew Strauss after Pietersen's brief tenure ended in controversy. Cook was shown still to have the selectors' confidence despite his lack of centuries when he was given the unofficial vice-captaincy before the tour began.^[120][121] The title gave him a boost: he went on to score two fifties in the first warm-up match, retiring out in the second innings^[122] but contrasted that with a duck in the next tour match.^[123] Similarly, in the First Test he scored four and another duck.^[124] After the third Test was abandoned due to the poor quality of the surface, Cook was again beleaguered by his perennial problem: he scored two half centuries against opening partner Strauss's 169.^[125] He seemed to have put it behind him in the first innings of the next Test, however, as he and Strauss put on a record opening stand of 229.^[126] Strauss was bowled first for 169 as Cook reached the nineties but fell shortly thereafter for 94.^[95] After two days' batting on a benign pitch, the West Indies declared on 749 for nine in response to England's 600 for six. Put back in with one day to spare, Strauss fell for 33, but, after 38 innings' and fifteen months' waiting, Cook finally arrived at his eighth Test century, and went on to pass his highest score with an unbeaten 139 before play ended in a draw.^[95] During this innings, Cook also became the youngest Englishman to pass 3,000 Test runs.^[127]

England returned home, only to face the West Indies once more. The Second Test took the sides to the Riverside in Durham where, on a benign surface, Cook battled through the first day. After Strauss fell in the morning session, Cook began a partnership with Ravi Bopara, who had recently been promoted to third in the batting order. Over the first day, the two navigated a slow partnership, both strike rates remaining under 55, but, once Cook reached his ninth Test century, Bopara matched it with his own, culminating in a 213-run partnership at Bopara's fall in the closing overs of the day; Cook ended unbeaten on 126.^[128] After the second day of play was completely washed out, Cook recorded his first Test 150 and subsequently his then highest score of 160.^[129]

Successive Ashes wins (2009–2011)[link]

Omitted from the World Twenty20 competition, Cook returned to Essex for two moderate county matches but impressive Twenty20 games.^[130] Despite being the only Englishman to score a century, or even more than 50, in the first innings of England's warm up match against Warwickshire,^[131] in the first Ashes Test at Cardiff, Cook was the lowest scoring recognised batsman, scoring 10 and 6 – caught in the gully in the first innings, and trapped LBW by Mitchell Johnson in the second.^[132] Cook bounced back in the second Test at Lord's, batting through to the afternoon session, as he and his captain Andrew Strauss (who scored 161) set the record for the highest opening English partnership at Lord's with 196,^[133] Cook initially scored faster than Strauss but fell short of another Lord's century, trapped again by Johnson for 95.^[134] This partnership, along with Strauss' anchoring throughout the innings, led England to a total of 425 and enabled them to gain a 210-run first-innings lead, aided by three catches from Cook off James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Batting quickly in the second innings to force victory, Cook scored 32 from 54 balls before again falling LBW^[135] but providing enough for England to cement their first victory over Australia at Lord's since 1934 and second since 1896.^[136]

Cook took the winning catch in the 2009 Ashes series.

After this high, the series took a severe downturn for Cook as his only appearance in the third Test was a duck.^[137] With no second innings to redeem himself, pressure began to mount on Cook for the fourth Test at Headingley Stadium where he anchored himself through half the team before being dismissed half way through the first innings for only 30, a score which would only be topped by wicket-keeper Matt Prior as England collapsed to Australia's seam attack, bowled out for 102. Though the team batted better in the second innings Cook again was the fifth man out for another 30 as England succumbed to an innings defeat, with Australia levelling the series needing only to draw at the Oval to retain the Ashes.^[138] During the fortnight break Cook was among a quintet of players released into the County Championship to increase their form alongside.^[139] In the first-class match against Middlesex both he and Bopara failed in the first innings, with scores of 4 and 1, but Cook top scored in the second innings with 64 to push Essex towards victory.^[140] Of the five released, Cook was among three picked for the final and decisive Oval Test and didn't start well being dismissed with only 12 runs on the board, ten of them his. However, in the field Cook was part of Australia's first innings collapse, taking two catches off Graeme Swann to dismiss the top scoring opener Simon Katich and the penultimate wicket of Stuart Clark. Working with a 172 run lead on the second evening, Strauss and Cook's steady partnership was ended prematurely with Cook dismissed for 9 in his final innings of the series. Despite this Cook ended the series on something of a high in his fielding position at short leg, taking a catch off Steve Harmison's second wicket in two balls for the penultimate wicket and then taking the winning catch of a leading edge from the defiant Michael Hussey for 121 off Swann to seal the Ashes victory.^[141]

Cook made his return to international Twenty20 cricket during the tour of South Africa in 2009–10. After scoring 11 runs in the first match,^[142] Cook was handed the captaincy after Paul Collingwood picked up an injury prior to the second match^[143] but led them to an 84 run loss after posting only 26.^[144] In the second Test he scored a patient 118 after being saved by a third umpire referral at 64.^[96] This, along with a century from Ian Bell, gave England their only Test win of the drawn series with an innings margin.^[145] Despite a meagre performance in the rest of the series, it was quickly announced that England's 2010 tour against Bangladesh would see Strauss rested, with Cook taking on the captaincy role in the Test and One-Day teams as, what national selector Geoff Miller, "an audition for future engagements".^[146]

In his first Test as captain in Chittagong, Cook led the team to a win, despite a strong rearguard from Bangladesh, with the top score in both innings.^[147] Scoring a century in the first, in the second innings he accumulated 4,000 Test which coincided with teammate Collingwood achieving the same. At 25 years, 79 days Cook became the youngest Englishman to reach this amount and the second youngest worldwide after Indian veteran Sachin Tendulkar who was 24 years, 224 days old.^[148] In the second Test, Cook scored the winning runs in a nine wicket win, having scored another century.^[149] By virtue of being captain, Cook returned to England's ODI squad for the first time since 2008 and led the team as an opening batsmen to a three win whitewash with respectable scores.^[150]

After England's successful tour of Bangladesh, Bangladesh came to tour England with Strauss returning as captain and Cook being omitted once more for the short format.^[150] Later in the Summer Pakistan toured England also. It took until the fifth Test of the summer for Cook to pass 50, scoring 110 in a losing cause against Pakistan. Before then, he had come in for much scrutiny, especially regarding his technique outside off-stump, and many considered his place to be under-threat. His timely century secured his place for the last Test, although he only scored 10 in an innings win by England, further putting his place into question heading into the Winter tour of Australia.^[151]

Cook and his fellow England teammates celebrate in the field as Chris Tremlett takes the winning wicket in the 2010-11 Ashes series.

Although there were still concerns about Cook's form and technique ahead of the 2010-11 Ashes series, Cook answered his critics in the best way possible. Following a century in one of the warm-up games, Cook opened his series account with 67 as England won the toss and batted at The Gabba in Brisbane. After surrendering a first-innings deficit of 221, Cook fought back with fellow-opener Strauss and Jonathan Trott. Strauss scored 110 as England scored 188 for the first wicket. With this partnership, Cook and Strauss became England's highest scoring opening partners across their four years together, beating an eighty year-old record set by Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe; albeit taking 44 more innings to do so.^[152] Cook was joined by Trott and they scored an unbeaten partnership of 329; Cook recorded his first double-century in first class cricket, finishing on 235 not out, and Trott scored 135 not out before England declared on 517–1. Cook's 235* overtook Donald Bradman's record score at the ground and several other records were set in that innings.^[153][154]

In the second Test at Adelaide, Cook scored another century,^[155] his 15th, which saw him match Bradman in scoring 15 centuries before his 26th birthday (they are joint-second behind Sachin Tendulkar). Cook broke Wally Hammond's record of runs scored without being out and Nasser Hussain's record of most minutes at the crease without being out, before being caught behind off an inside edge for 148 after over 1,000 minutes of being at the crease.^[156]

Cook, along with his teammates in a losing effort, performed poorly in the third Test but contributed to an innings victory in the fourth, becoming the series' leading run scorer after scoring 82. In the fifth and final Test, Cook twice survived being given out by debutant Michael Beer, the first from a no ball and the second (at 99 runs) after the third umpire confirmed the onfield decision that the ball had not carried. Eventually caught by Michael Hussey, his score of 189 saw him reach 5,000 Test runs in his career while in the series alone he amounted over 36 hours at the crease, a world record in a five Test series and an English record even including six Test series, as well as scoring 766 runs to become England's second highest series scorer behind 906 by Wally Hammond 80 years previous.^[2] At the end of the final Test, Cook was presented with both the Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards.

ODI Captaincy (2011)[link]

Following England's quarter-final departure from the 2011 World Cup, Andrew Strauss resigned the ODI captaincy and Cook was named his successor, despite not having featured in an ODI since leading the side in Bangladesh. In addition to Cook's promotion, seam bowler Stuart Broad was named captain of the Twenty20 side and England went into the home series with Sri Lanka with different captains for each format of the game.

Cook's first game as full time Captain against Sri Lanka at the Oval saw England victorious by 110 runs.^[157] England went on to win the series 3-2, with Cook top scoring for England in the series with 298 runs in five matches. This performance also lead to an ODI player of the series award.

Outside cricket[link]

As well as his successful career in the realms of cricket, Cook also uses his talents in other fields. As well as being a columnist in The Daily Telegraph^[57] and Metro,^[158] he used his erstwhile musical flair with the saxophone to contribute to Freefonix, a CBBC animated series with music-based adventures.^[9] As well as this, Cook has donated his time to various charities including taking part in The Great City Race for Breakthrough Breast Cancer^[159] and modelled nude alongside fellow cricketers James Anderson and Stuart Broad to help raise awareness for testicular cancer on behalf of the Everyman Campaign.^[160] On 31 December 2011 Cook married his childhood sweetheart, Alice Hunt.^[161]

Achievements[link]

Test cricket[link]

Performance against each opponent[link]

As of 23 August 2011:

Opponent[164]	Matches	Innings	Not out	Runs	High Score	100	50	Average
Australia	15	26	1	1264	235*	4	3	50.56
Bangladesh	4	7	1	401	173	2	0	66.83
India	11	20	1	875	294	2	4	46.05
New Zealand	6	10	0	308	61	0	2	30.80
Pakistan	8	14	0	570	127	3	1	40.71
South Africa	8	14	0	616	118	1	6	44.00
Sri Lanka	9	15	1	843	133	3	5	60.21
West Indies	11	19	3	991	160	4	5	61.93
TOTAL	72	125	7	5,868	294	19	26	49.72

Centuries[link]

#	Runs	Match	Opponent	Location	Venue	Year
[1][55]	104*	1	India	Nagpur, India	Vidarbha	2006
[2][68]	105	6	Pakistan	London, England	Lord's	2006
[3][70]	127	7	Pakistan	Greater Manchester, England	Old Trafford	2006
[4][76]	116	12	Australia	Perth, Australia	WACA Ground	2006
[5][79]	105	15	West Indies	London, England	Lord's	2007
[6][81]	106	17	West Indies	Greater Manchester, England	Old Trafford	2007
[7][165]	118	24	Sri Lanka	Galle, Sri Lanka	Galle International Stadium	2007
[8][95]	139*	40	West Indies	Bridgetown, West Indies	Kensington Oval	2009
[9][129]	160	43	West Indies	Chester-le-Street, England	Riverside	2009
[10][96]	118	50	South Africa	Durban, South Africa	Sahara Stadium Kingsmead	2009
[11][147]	173	53	Bangladesh	Chittagong, Bangladesh	Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium	2010
[12][149]	109*	54	Bangladesh	Dhaka, Bangladesh	Shere Bangla National Stadium	2010
[13][165]	110	59	Pakistan	London, England	The Oval	2010
[14][153]	235*	61	Australia	Brisbane, Australia	The Gabba	2010
[15][155]	148	62	Australia	Adelaide, Australia	Adelaide Oval	2010
[16][2]	189	65	Australia	Sydney, Australia	Sydney Cricket Ground	2011
[17][166]	133	66	Sri Lanka	Cardiff, Wales (England home venue)	SWALEC Stadium	2011
[18][167]	106	67	Sri Lanka	London, England	Lord's	2011
[19][168]	294	71	India	Birmingham, England	Edgbaston	2011