James Anderson Pays Tribute To Best Friend Alastair Cook With Special T-shirt

James Anderson has given his best pal Alastair Cook an emotional tribute with a commemorative T-shirt as the celebrated England’s 4-1 win against India at The Oval.

Cook brought an end to his glorious 12-year career in a fairytale manner at the Oval. The former England skipper bagged the Man of the Match award after scoring 71 and 147 as England thrashed India by 118 runs to win the series. And Anderson then paid a fitting tribute to Cook, gifting him a T-shirt. The duo posed for a picture wearing ‘Ally, Ally Cook’ T-shirts after the game.

Anderson took to Twitter to post the photo, writing:

“I’ll miss this guy….humble, down to earth, grounded! ? Such a special bloke. Proud to call him a friend ?”

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The pair have been team-mates and firm friends since Cook broke into the Test team in 2006. After the game, Anderson nearly broke down as he bid goodbye to Cook.

“He is my best mate and it’s been brilliant just to have him there for me all the time.

“It will take a while to sink in. Cookie retiring has been a big thing for me – I’m trying not to cry, he told Test Match Special,” he told Sky Sports.

“It’s been difficult. He’s a very good mate of mine and he’s helped me through a lot of my career. He’s been there as a friend for me. I’ll miss him. I can still go and visit him.

“We’ll still be good mates. To be honest, he’s been a bit of a role model. The way he goes about his business, I’ve tried to emulate that,” he added.

Both Cook and Anderson, meanwhile, achieved incredible feats during the game. Cook’s 33rd Test ton helped him go past Kumar Sangakkara and become the fifth leading run-scorer in Tests. Cook is now also the highest scorer in Tests as a left-handed batsman.

On the other hand, Anderson broke Glenn McGrath’s 563-wickets mark in Tests to become the most prolific pacer in the history of the game.