Stats: Alastair Cook rewrites most consecutive Test appearances record

Alastair Cook’s position in the England team remains under question as far as the critics are concerned but the senior batsman continues to be their premier opener in the longer format. England’s batting has recently struggled especially to produce good opening stands. Cook has been inconsistent with the bat recently while his partners have been even terrible. Ever since Andrew Strauss’ retirement, England got 12 different opening partners for Cook.

The 33-year-old has been the best opener in the County Championship over the last three years and is a no-brainer for selectors to trust the experience of Cook. With the ongoing 2-match Test series against Pakistan, Alastair Cook has 156 Test appearances to his name. The left-handed opener has represented England in 154 straight Tests that they’ve played. Thus, he broke the record for most consecutive Test matches.

The previous record was held by Allan Border who featured in 153 consecutive Tests for Australia between 1979 and 1994. Ever since his Test debut during the India tour in 2006, Cook missed only one Test match that England played. He missed out the final match of the Test series in India due to a stomach bug. A total of five players including Cook and Border have appeared in 100+ consecutive Tests for their team. Brendon McCullum is the only one to feature in 100+ consecutive Tests since his Test debut.

The former New Zealand skipper starred in all 101 Tests his country played from his debut till retirement in 2016. AB de Villiers came close to McCullum’s feat with 98 consecutive appearances from the debut. De Villiers featured in only 16 matches over a span of 3-year since his streak was ended and eventually announced his International retirement. Adam Gilchrist also made an appearance in all 96 Test matches him team played between his Test debut and last match; he was the wicketkeeper in all of them.

The 2nd longest active streak behind Cook’s 154 in Test cricket is just 56 matches. Australia’s Nathan Lyon and Pakistan’s Asad Shafiq have both played 56 consecutive Tests for their respective countries. Shafiq, who is a part of the ongoing Leeds Test, holds Pakistan’s longest streak without missing a game. Steven Smith was involved in 59 consecutive Tests for Australia before being banned for his involvement in the ball tampering controversy.

Most consecutive Test match appearances for a Team:

(Stats as on June 1, 2018)