England vs India 2018: Alastair Cook Signs Three-Year Deal With Essex After Int'l Retirement

Former England skipper Alastair Cook has signed a three-year contract with the Essex County Cricket Club after announcing his retirement from international cricket. Cook will retire with the culmination of fifth and final Test against India at the Kennington Oval.

The dead rubber is slated to start from 7^th September. Cook who had earlier captained England is all set to play his 161^st Test match and his last.

The southpaw will definitely look to get back among the runs and finish his career on a high. Cook definitely has aspirations of finishing his career with a century.

However, given the below-par form he has been in, it looks highly unlikely that he will be able to fulfil his dream.

The left-handed opening batsman made his first-class debut for Essex against Nottinghamshire back in 2003. He helped his side win the County Championship only last year. However, Cook played some of the heroic innings against India for England.

Meanwhile, Essex head coach Anthony McGrath said Cook is a “role model” for all the youngsters who aspire to become cricketers.

Alastair Cook is one of the finest batsmen England has ever produced:

“He’s one of the best batsmen in the world, and he’s so important for us both on and off the pitch. He can change a game with his batting, and that’s something everyone wants in their team,” he added.

The southpaw Cook will finish his Test career with 12,254 runs at an average of 45. He has also scored 32 centuries in the process. He is the leading run-scorer for England in Test cricket by far.

Meanwhile, Cook stated that he had drunk a few bottles of beer before going to his teammates and announcing that he would retire from the game. He said that he needed to have a bit of beer as he felt he would have cried a lot otherwise.

In the recent past, Cook has been criticised for his dismal performances. In the last year and a half, he has smashed just a couple of big centuries. It included two double centuries against Australia and the Windies.

However, the consistency was never there during the ongoing England and India Test series. Hence Alastair Cook finally decided to call it quits from the game, before joining his old-club Essex again.