He captained England in the Under-19 World Cup early in 2004, scored his maiden first-class hundred later that year, and added a double-century for Essex against the Australian tourists in 2005. The following spring he was called up by the full England side when injuries struck in India. He had been in the Caribbean with the A team when the SOS came but, unfazed, stroked 60 and a magnificent century to complete a memorable debut in Nagpur. He remained consistent, seemingly at ease with the pressure, and was a shoo-in for the 2006-07 Ashes. Before that series even started Glenn McGrath paid him the honour of publicly announcing that he would be targeting Cook: it made for a tough baptism, but although he was hardly prolific (276 runs) he did manage a century in Perth.
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Alastair Cook Profile
Alastair Cook Profile
Bowlers began to exploit that penchant for hanging on the front foot, but Cook still made his share of runs, with a languid ease reminiscent of David Gower, if slightly more stiff-legged. By the time of his 25th birthday on Christmas Day 2009 he had scored far more runs (3536 to Gower's 2548) and centuries (nine to Ian Botham's six) than any other Englishman of a comparable age. He hit three more Test hundreds in 2009 - but none of them were in the Ashes series, in which 95 at Lord's was his only score above 32 as the Aussies probed that front-pad problem.
However, further honours were just around the corner. Andrew Strauss took time off at the start of 2010, and Cook captained in Bangladesh, scoring centuries as both Tests were won.
Full name Alastair Nathan Cook
Born December 25, 1984, Gloucester
Current age 25 years 346 days
Major teams England, Bedfordshire, England Lions, England Under-19s, Essex,
