'Ever the entertainer' - Alastair Cook grabs attention with a humorous run up during County Championship game

Former England captain Alastair Cook entertained the crowd in a County Championship match with a unique run-up and it left even the commentators in splits. Cook, 37 years now, has been a consistent run-scorer for Essex in county cricket despite announcing his retirement from international cricket. In the Division One game against Kent, Cook turned his arm over bowling to Australia’s Jackson Bird and he came up with a fascinating run-up.

Cook was watching the fielder on the off-side during his bowling run-up and his arms were stretched like a big fast bowler running in from a difficult angle. He had a strange smile on his face which certainly showed that he was up for some humour and got the crowd excited as well. Earlier, the left-hander had scored a century in the first innings and followed it up with an unbeaten 26 in the second innings for Essex as the match resulted in a draw.

It has to be noted that Cook is considered to be one of the greatest openers in Test history. He played 161 Tests for England, scoring 12472 runs at an average of 45.4. He is fifth on the overall list of players with the most runs scored in Tests with 33 centuries and 57 half-centuries to his name. He also played 92 ODIs, scoring 3204 runs at an average of 36.4. Cook was expected to become the closest batter to Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 15921 runs in Tests had he not retired at just 33 years.

Here’s the video of Alastair Cook’s unique run-up

Meanwhile, England have suffered hugely in Tests after the void created by Cook at the top of the order and the selectors have found it tough to stick to an opening combination. The 0-4 Ashes defeat in Australia was a testimony of how vulnerable the England side has been in terms of their batting since the retirement of Cook, and it seems a player of the quality of Cook was always going to be tough to be replaced.