One of the modern-day greats in Test cricket, England opener Alastair Cook has made life tough for many bowlers during his illustrious career but the former England skipper has revealed the names of three bowlers against whom he endured a terrible time.
The left-handed batsman, who is England’s leading run-scorer in the longest format of the game, has faced the likes of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Anil Kumble, Mitchell Johnson, Dale Steyn and Muttiah Muralitharan among others but has admitted that former Aussie pacer Stuart Clarke and the Pakistan pace duo of Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif gave him a testing time in his international career.
The former England skipper made the revelation to The Times UK on the eve of England’s first Test against South Africa. Surprisingly, Cook said that it was Clarke more than anyone else who caused all sorts of trouble for him.
The first Englishman to cross the 10,000-run mark in Test cricket, Cook faced Clarke in seven Tests in two Ashes series (2006-07 and 2009). Overall in 14 innings, Clarke picked up Cook’s wicket five times out of which four were caught behind the wicket– three times to wicketkeeper and once to slip fielder – while the remaining one was bowled.
Coming to Cook’s meeting with Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, the England star faced the Pakistani pacers in seven innings, falling to them on six occasions with each bowler picking up his wicket thrice. Such was Cook’s struggle against Amir and Asif in the 2010 series, that he managed to compile just 167 runs, which included a knock of 110 runs in the third of the four-match Test series.
Cook, meanwhile, will be gearing up for a different phase of his prolific career, as he will be playing his first Test in five years without being the captain of the side. Cook stepped down from his post earlier this year after the 4-0 defeat in India.