Former England captain Alastair Cook is inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, as cricket great receives major honour days after being surpassed as nation’s leading Test run-scorer by Joe Root

Alastair Cook has been inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame among the Class of 2024.

The former England captain, who played 161 Test matches and scored 12,472 runs was England’s leading run-scorer in Test cricket until Joe Root surpassed him last week.

‘At this moment in time, I’d find it hard to say that anyone is playing better than Joe Root at the moment,’ admitted Cook, who rang Root and made sure that ‘he had a beer in his hand’ after the Yorkshireman moved into fifth on the list of all-time leading run scorers in Test cricket during England’s win against Pakistan in Multan.

‘Everyone looked at that Sachin Tendulkar record of 200 Test matches and thought it would never be matched so you just never know. I hope that Joe can get very close to Sachin (who scored 15,921 runs), if not become the first person to score 16,000 Test runs,’ said Cook.

‘I’ve never seen a team push the boundaries quite as much as this England side have done,’ the 39-year-old added, after England declared on 823 for seven and subsequently became the first team to win a Test by an innings, despite conceding 500+ in the first innings.

The honour comes just days after he was overtaken as England’s leading Test run-scorer by Joe Root (left)

‘To win those big series, you need players who have had a good run in the side and experienced a range of situations and emotions. You’d assume that England’s current top six will be the top six for The Ashes (in 2025-26) and those flat wickets there will certainly suit England’s style,’ said Cook.

The former opener famously scored 766 runs in seven innings in the 2010-11 Ashes to anchor England’s first series win in Australia for 24 years. They haven’t won a Test match there since.

‘The two big series for me on a personal level were Australia in 2010-11 and India in 2012, he said. ‘When you walk out to bat for England, there’s so many things going on in your mind but at the back of it, you’ve got that belief you’ve done it before. And those tours really gave me a sense of belonging and I tried to use that whenever I went through some bad form.’

Cook made his debut as a 21-year-old in 2006, scoring a century on debut against India in Nagpur – the first of 33 centuries for England. Only Root (35) has more and Cook credited Graham Gooch, who he worked closely with through his career.

‘A lot of people know about my relationship with Graham Gooch – a mentor, a friend, a coach,’ said Cook. ‘His name will always mean a lot to me not just for his game but for the hours he spent with me personally to try and make me the best player that I could be.’