Alastair Cook is an example to young cricketers: David Richardson

Chief Executive Officer of the International Cricket Council (ICC), David Richardson, praised England Test skipper Alastair Cook, who became the first English cricketer and the youngest to complete 10,000 runs in the longest format of the game. Cook achieved the feat during the fourth day of the second Test against Sri Lanka. England has won the Test and clichéd the series 2-0 with one match to go.

The former South African cricketer pointed out that he is an example for the youngsters since he has shown that you can still play contemporary and conventional cricket to be successful at the top level. “I like the fact he’s not in the Gayle (Chris), Warner (David) or McCullum (Brendon) mold,” Richardson said, on Wednesday.

“He’s a more traditional opening batsman, as we’ve known them to be. It’s a good example to young cricketers that you don’t have to hit every second ball out of the park to be successful.”

Speaking about Test cricket he said that the cricketers need to be rewarded to make them play in all formats of the game. “If we want to make sure the best players are playing international cricket, we have to make sure that our members are in a position to reward and incentivize their players to play all formats. That boils down to a funding model that provides the members with the means to do just that,” the 56-year-old said.

Also read: I never thought I’d get 10,000 runs: Alastair Cook

“The board is looking at the funding model of the ICC, hopefully making teams less reliant on (lucrative) Indian tours and creating a model that not only allows their players to earn a lot of money playing in domestic T20 leagues, but also to play for their country and be well rewarded,” he signed-off.