Debut centurion to captain fantastic

Dec 12, 2013

The lid was lifted on Alastair Cook's international career in 2006 in the toughest of environments in Nagpur but he started as he meant to go on with a century •AFP

For a first taste of Ashes cricket, a 5-0 drubbing was somewhat chastening but Cook showed his battling qualities with a hundred in Perth, a venue where England batsman have traditionally struggled•Getty Images

He played only one innings of note as England reclaimed the Ashes but bounced back with 118 in Durban in a famous victory over South Africa•Getty Images

Revitalised, Cook went Down Under and helped England save the first Test with a marathon double century•Getty Images

But there was still one team England had failed to dominate and South Africa proved too much for Cook and company the following summer•Getty Images

Cook then claimed the biggest prize of them all to end a quite superb first year as England captain•Getty Images

Cook's first century in England came the following summer as he wasted no time in etching his name on to the Lord's honours board•Getty Images

England lost their next tour too but again Cook demonstrated his ability, a century in Galle confirming that England had found a gem of a player•Getty Images

But at home in 2010 runs began to desert him - 106 in nine innings put his place under pressure•Getty Images

By the end of the series, Australia were sick of the sight of him. Cook made the second-highest tally of runs in an Ashes series by an Englishman, 766 at 127.66•Getty Images

The defeat ended Andrew Strauss's reign as captain and the ECB turned to Cook, the long-time vice-captain under Strauss•Getty Images

Cook had to wait four more series for his next century but 94 and 139 not out in Bridgetown weren't enough to help England level the series•Getty Images

Cook found a response and made his 13th Test hundred at The Oval and his most important to date•Getty Images

Cook was in the form of his life and turned his eyes on India to flay them around Edgbaston•AFP

Cook's first task was an unenviable one in India but he led from the front in spectacular fashion, making three centuries in the series and becoming his country's highest century-maker in Tests - with 23 - as England won 2-1, the first success in India for almost three decades•BCCI