- Jun 13, 2008
- 21,900
- 32,610
I haven't followed cricket for a while but I'm surprised to see Cook calling it a day, he's still a young man. I was shocked to see he has more runs than Lara and Chanderpaul also, that's some feat.
He's played an awful lot of cricket though due to modern schedules, and pretty much non-stop. 160 Test matches in (not quite) 12 years.
I know it's not an exact comparison, some of these mentioned will have played more One Day stuff than Cook for example, and tours are shorter these days, but look at those with more Test matches than him:
Dravid 164 matches - took 16 years.
Chanderpaul 164 - 21 years.
Kallis 166 - 18 years.
S Waugh 168 - 19 years.
Ponting 168 - 18 years.
And Tendulkar - 200 matches over 24 years.
He's crammed a lot in, not a huge surprise he has burnt out maybe quicker than anticipated.
Also, and just my impression, but I think his commitment and focus has declined partly due to now having a young family, kids etc. There have been noises about him finding tours a struggle.