Story Alastair Cook: Through the Ashes

[just_cricket]

My ICC Test Cricket story will continue and be my priority, this is just a one to keep me interested

Day One: Squad Training

Well, I can't say I was surprised to hear that I was in the squad for the Ashes. I probably would have cried if I hadn't :crying. That was two days ago, and today I have to go down to the Oval for a squad training session with a few specialist coaches. We've only got a week before the opener at Cardiff, but most of us have been playing together as a team for a while now- oh, yeah. I scrawled down the names of the guys in the squad last week, in case you're wondering...

Good to see my Essex teammate James Foster in the squad after a good Twenty20 tournament with the gloves and the bat.
Training goes pretty well, I bat OK although not well enough to score an Ashes double hundred as I'd like to. I request to coach Andy Flower that I get some practice from bowlers bowling around the wicket and a bit closer to simulate facing Mitchell Johnson, he laughs but takes me seriously. I've been really impressed with Andy so far- he's happy to talk lots and gives me lots of feedback. After a good session with the bat, I have a few slip catches with Straussy (Muppet) and decide to lighten up my mindset with an over or two of right arm off breaks to KP. Bad move. KP makes a special effort to hit each ball of mine longer and harder than anyone else's. After he smashes on back past my ear I comment.

"Jeez, Kevin no wonder no one likes bowling to you in the nets. I think I'll give some practice to Colly instead, eh?"

"Settle down, Ally. Your bowling gives no one practice. Colly'll treat you just the same, so would that old kiwi Chris Martin the way you're bowling. Make yourself useful and get me a drink wouldya?"

I'm already sick of his ever present South African accent, so I run off to grap him a drink and run away quickly! Nah, it's not that bad. KP and I are good mates, he just takes immense pleasure in winding me up. Colly tells me to stay away if I don't want to get smashed everywhere, so I opt for some throwdowns from Andy. I think my respect for him is a two way thing, as he seems to have a lot of time for me. I (hopefully) sort out my back foot defence and playing bouncers. Andy reckons Mitch Johnson and Brett Lee (if he's playing) will test me out with the short ball because I hook in the air. I practise ducking and swaying or "bobbing and weaving" as Andy delightfully puts it.
We have a bit of a chat about motivation and such things at the conclusion of the practice, and after that we're free to go. I drive back to Chelmsford, knowing that I have to be back in London tomorrow to sort out my sponsorship-
Adidas have offered me a deal after my Gray Nicolls contract ended at the end of the ICC World Twenty20...

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Good start mate, looks interesting and surely will be following this. KIU

 

[Biggy]

I request to coach Andy Flower that I get some practice from bowlers bowling around the wicket and a bit closer to simulate facing Mitchell Johnson

Pff, he can't be simulated, the man is a genius.

Great start, good luck.

 

[Aditya]

Good start will be following it for sure why not you typed in a text rather then paper

 

[Highlander999]

Nice start, career diaries following real life players are pretty rare, so I'll keep an eye on this :cool:

 

[OrderDX]

yh interesting concept and alastair cook went to bedford school which is where i am from! Will defo be following come on Cook! Great start mate

 

[just_cricket]

Day Two

My girlfriend Molister was understandably disappointed at me going to London again, as that cuts down the already limited time we get to spend together, but I kept her quiet by promising to take her to the movies tomorrow. There's some romance film that she described- it sounded incredibly boring and cliched but as she said:

"You'll spend enough bloody time on the cricket field in the next few months, so you can sit through a decent movie with me"

Ah, yeah OK Molly. She doesn't mind cricket, but there are certainly wives out there who like it more. Still, I can't complain, she sits through every test I play and is always supportive. And she gets to travel around the world so she can't complain either!

At the Adidas complex, the head honcho guy explained to me what my contract would probably involve. It actually sounded really good, so after a few questions from my agent were answered, I signed the deal.
A couple of hours and what felt like a million photos later, I walked away with 3 Pellara bats, 4 pairs of gloves and pads, 2 pairs of batting and 2 pairs of fielding boots, plus a few other things like sweatbands, drink bottles, socks and some skins. Here's a photo of me posing like a, um "poser" with my new bat.

Whenever I get new gear I always think of Ian Bell and KP. They honestly couldn't be more different in their attitude to gear. Kevin's what people call a "bat whore". If he could, he'd change sponsors as often as possible, he always wants new stickers on his bats, wants 10 of everything, and is always after a new look. The most surprising thing is that he doesn't use a pink bat grip, as he could hardly be more of an extrovert with his gear style. With him, his new gear always gets shoved (often unopened) in his gearbag, and it's ridiculous how much stuff we find of his scattered around in the changing room, or even sometimes scattered around outside the changing room.

Belly, however, is somewhat different. Everytime he gets new gloves, he unpackages them and smells them for abut twenty seconds, before repackaging them and carefully placing them in a special compartment he had already set aside for them two days ago. He is reluctant to change his 'favourite bat' until it is about to snap in half, and because of his skinny legs, has the pad straps professionally cut off and sewn back neatly so he "can feel as neat and tidy as possible at the crease" as he says.

I guess I sit somewhere in the middle, slightly more 'right wing conservative' as Belly would say, that is, closer to him. I like cricket gear, take good care of it and oil and sand my bats religiously, although not to the point of ''glove sniffing''.

I decided to drive back to Chelmsford straight away to give Molly as little reason to complain as possible. I needn't have bothered, she was happy to see me again and surprisingly actually keen to talk about cricket gear. Although in a good mood, as soon as I hint that we might not go to the movies, or go to a different one, she won't let up. Looks like 3 hours of precious daylight for me will be spent enduring watching a pathetic couple make awkward moves and then everything will be happy at the end because 'there's someone for everyone'. Just can't wait...

I get a ring from Andy just to have a quick chat about my batting- we discuss goal setting and I read him my list of goals for this series:

• Win the Ashes
  
• Score a hundred at Lords
  
• Have at least two century opening stands with Straussy
  
• Score a double hundred

The first and last ones are the main two for me- if we win the Ashes and I get a double hundred, I can die happy, knowing I've surely proven myself against the best. This is the biggest series of my life, and I want it to be the best...

 

[Jakester1288]

Great stuff mate. Good read. These are different around here, so it's unique and new.

 

[Ollie_H]

This is brilliant mate! Really like how you corporate other people into the diary, les' just hope the ashes go well for Cooky!

 

[OffCutters]

Good story mate, very good looking Adidas bats over there, and well done in getting in the Ashes squad, keep it up.

 

[OrderDX]

another great update and have you read alastair cook's autobiography?

 

[Burnsy1]

he's got an autobiography? He's only 24 for godsake he hasn't done much yet really in the grand scheme of things.

On the otherhand I'm liking this story so far KIU.

 

[just_cricket]

another great update and have you read alastair cook's autobiography?

I have read some of Starting Out but I only borrowed it off a friend. I do base some of what I have written on it, and also interviews in cricket magazines

Thanks for the comments, guys