Cook, who started the day needing five more runs to bring up his 10,000, reached the landmark when he clipped Nuwan Pradeep for four through mid-wicket. That left-handed opener finished on 47 not out as England won the second Test with more than a day to spare, a victory that put them 2-0 up in the three-match series.
Cook is the first England batsman to score 10,000 Test runs and at 31 years and 157 days old, the youngest from any country, beating the previous record of India great Sachin Tendulkar (31 years and 326 days). “It’s a very special moment for me, but the game is not about personal milestones, it’s about winning games and scoring runs to do that,” said Cook.
Cook, acknowledging the input of Essex and England mentor Graham Gooch, added: “It’s those seven o’clock nets with Goochie, it’s all that hard work that goes with it.” Asked who were the toughest bowlers he had faced in international cricket, Cook nominate a quartet of Australia quicks. “(Ryan) Harris and (Mitchell) Johnson were hard, and facing (Glenn) McGrath and Brett Lee as a 21-year old was a good baptism for me.”
Cook scored a hundred on his debut against India at Nagpur in 2006 and has now made 28 Test centuries. But his career has not been one long sequence of unbroken success. The closest Cook, a veteran of 128 Tests, came close to being dropped was during a 2010 home series against Pakistan.
But a hundred in the third Test at The Oval saved his place and set Cook up for a triumphant tour of Australia where he scored 766 runs, including three hundreds, as England won the Ashes 3-1. “The Pakistan series in 2010 for me as a batter was hard,” said Cook. “I had changed my technique. I found it tough. It was an enlightening moment when I went back to my old technique.”
Cook’s position as captain was called into question two years ago as England suffered a 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia and again during the 2014 home series defeat by Sri Lanka. “As a player and captain Sri Lanka was hard. Forget all the runs. That is my proudest moment...hanging in there in the tough times,” said Cook.
Gooch, himself a former opener whose tally of 8,900 Test runs puts him second behind Cook on England’s all-time list, paid tribute to his protege by telling BBC Radio’s Test Match Special: “It’s not just about the runs you score, it’s about how many matches you win for your team and he’s been at the forefront of that for the last decade. He’s a guy that gets the job done.”
Cook could have several more years in which to break Tendulkar’s all-time aggregate Test record of 15,921 runs. “Who knows?,” said Cook. “I never thought I would get 10,000. Now I will have to have a rethink and set something else personally.”
Cook praised his side’s determination after a series-clinching win over Sri Lanka. That England had to bat in the second innings was due to some long-awaited Sri Lankan resistance with the bat. Their first innings 101, made in response to England’s 498 for nine declared featuring Moeen Ali’s Test-best 155 not out, followed equally meagre totals of 91 and 119 during an innings defeat in the first Test at Headingley.
But with Dinesh Chadimal scoring 126 and skipper Angelo Mathews making 80, Sri Lanka’s vastly-improved second innings 475 left England needing 79 for victory.
“It was tough. The pitch died a death and was a bit more like Colombo than the Chester-le-Street we have known in the past,” he said. “They (Sri Lanka) made us work hard for it, and sometimes it is a bit sweeter that way because you feel you have earned it. It was a slog today (Monday) and yesterday (Sunday), and James Anderson’s five for 50 in those conditions showed his class,” said Cook after the Lancashire paceman was named man-of-the-match following a haul that included his 450th Test wicket.
Anderson, who has spent the bulk of his Test career alongside Cook, said of his captain’s landmark: “What an amazing achievement. All that hard work, the effort, the lows and highs as well. He should treasure it – and to be the youngest to 10,000 is incredible.”
Anderson, England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker, jokingly pointed out how Cook never drinks more than four pints at the bar. Cook confirmed the limit was still in place, regardless of the fact he’d just made English cricket history. “Okay, I’ll be having my three-and-a-half pints,” he said. “One of them will be a (shandy) top ... as long as Jimmy buys me one.”
Sri Lanka, although well beaten again, at least restored some pride in a match where spinner Rangana Herath took his 300th Test wicket and made a fifty as well. “Not scoring more than 100 in the first innings was very disappointing,” said Mathews. “There were no demons in the wicket. We could have got at least 250 on that wicket to give ourselves a chance in this game. We talked about bringing back the fight – the Sri Lankan fight that we’ve not had in the last couple of weeks.”
Meanwhile Mathews, who played cricket alongside two of the only 12 men who’ve scored 10,000 Test runs – retired Sri Lanka greats Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene – congratulated Cook. “He’s been an amazing player for England – to get into that club is not at all easy,” Mathews said. As for the bowlers on both sides who enjoyed landmark matches, Mathews said: “Jimmy Anderson has also been amazing over the past so many years ... (and) finally Rangana Herath for taking his 300th wicket. They’ve been amazing players for their country.”
Umpire Aleem Dar left the field due to illness midway through Monday’s play. But the experienced Pakistani official is expected to be well enough to fulfil his scheduled TV umpire duties in the third Test at Lord’s starting on June 9.
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