Former Academy player who made a meteoric rise to international status after just two full seasons of county cricket. Cook made his breakthrough into the Essex first-team at the end of the 2003 season, scoring three half-centuries in three Championship appearances. The left-hander had made his senior debut earlier in the campaign in the first match played under the permanent floodlights at Chelmsford against Pakistan. Cook’s early success saw him named as the England Under-19 captain for the ICC Junior World Cup in Bangladesh in early 2004. The opener contributed two centuries as he led England to the semi-finals. Continued to make progress during the following domestic season with a maiden Championship ton against Leicestershire at Chelmsford in May.

2005 proved to be a momentous year for the opener as his batting exploits paved the way for a call-up to the senior England squad. Cook was the leading run-scorer for Essex in the Championship with 1249 runs @ 48.03 – a tally that included four centuries. He capped a fine season with a magnificent 214 against the touring Australians in September. Selection to the ECB Academy was swiftly followed by a call to England’s full tour of Pakistan as batting cover. Injuries to senior batsmen then resulted in his England debut in the first Test against India in March 2006. Cook’s rapid rise to prominence was capped when he scored 60 and 104 not out in his Nagpur bow.

The summer of 2006 saw Cook’s progress continue unabated when he scored two Test centuries against Pakistan. Test century number four followed in December 2006 when he struck 116 in the fourth Ashes Test at Perth – a rare bright spot in an otherwise disappointing campaign. Having missed out on selection for the England squad for the World Cup, Cook started the 2007 domestic season with Essex before returning to the international arena for series against West Indies and India. He struck two Test hundreds against the former and added his maiden ODI century against the latter at the Rose Bowl. In the troubled winter that followed for England it was once again Cook who belied his years to provide the reliability and consistency in his run-making that few others could match.