Essex's Sam Cook sets his sights on breaking into England's Test team
‘I want to be exceptional at everything’: Essex’s Sam Cook has starred for his county and in the Hundred… after being inspired by Brendon McCullum, the seamer now has his sights set on breaking into England’s Test team
- Seam bowler Sam Cook has thrived at county level in recent years for Essex
- Cook also performed well in the Hundred for Trent Rockets last year
- He now wants to show that he can make the step up to Test level for England
Whenever potential England Test bowlers are assessed, attention turns to whether or not they offer a significant point of difference. Well, Sam Cook certainly does: his wickets have been taken more economically than any rival for over half a century.
Others might be quicker through the air, hit the pitch harder or extract more bounce but they cannot match the statistical heights of the 25-year-old seamer in a burgeoning career that has already featured two County Championship titles.
Last September, he became the first Englishman to claim 200 first-class victims at a cost of under 20 runs apiece since Derbyshire’s Alan Ward in 1971. Five Lancashire scalps in the first innings of the current County Championship match at Chelmsford took his tally to 213 at 17.9 for Essex.
‘To get a record like that is extremely pleasing and it’ll probably be one when I retire to look back on and be proud of,’ said Cook.
‘One thing it does do is reinforce what I believe is my role – to get as many wickets as I can, for a few runs as I can. Cricket is a game that we can all over-complicate at times but that, at the end of the day, is what you are trying to do as a bowler.’
Sam Cook has been a standout performer in county cricket for Essex in recent years
He has taken over 200 wickets at less than 20 runs apiece for Essex since his debut in 2016
Moreover, last winter’s England Lions tourist is vying to emulate Ollie Robinson by proving that he is quick enough for international cricket. At some point in the not-too-distant future the Test team will be selecting successors to Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad.
Increasing his speed is one target Cook has been set by the ECB’s performance director Mo Bobat since first registering on England’s radar 18 months ago.
Something he addressed during last year’s Hundred final with Trent Rockets when he regularly burst through opponents’ defences to take the man-of-the-match award.
‘There’s probably been a perception that I am a bit of a dibbly-dobbler but over the past couple of years, chatting to batters and coaches, I think they have seen an improvement in pace which has been key in me breaking into the Lions set-up,’ he told Mail Sport.
‘The exposure of the Hundred was good for that possibly, to get it across to people who might not have seen a whole heap of county cricket.
‘I know I will never be a 90-mile-per-hour bowler but I will always try to add a bit of pace if I can, or try to keep more upright in my action for bounce, or perfect bowling with a Kookaburra ball or add reverse swing.
‘Perfecting each of those skills is going to be my avenue into that next level, so I want to be exceptional at everything – whether it’s moving the ball laterally or moving it in the air, or accuracy or whatever. It’s about taking each area as high as I possibly can.’
Cook has been inspired by England Test coach Brendon McCullum, and wants to break into the England Test team with the Ashes just around the corner
Sri Lankan conditions are as challenging as any worldwide for pace bowlers, and while Cook’s returns were reflective of that in two four-day ‘Tests’ earlier this year, he will no doubt let his numbers at home do their own talking over the coming months, having grabbed his chance to perform in front of Brendon McCullum in the Lions’ crushing innings win over South Africa in Canterbury last summer.
‘It felt like a full England set up with him and the coaching team present and the way he spoke to the group at the start of that week about how he wanted us to play was quite inspirational,’ continued a man referred to as Little Chef down at Chelmsford due to the presence of team-mate and better-known namesake Alastair Cook.
‘For those of us who haven’t experienced it, that gave a good insight into what a Test match week might be like.
‘I wouldn’t say that a buzz for Test cricket has ever gone away because that remains the pinnacle for every county cricketer, yet it felt last summer that the sport in this country had been reinvigorated by the way the England team played.
‘It felt like it filtered down and represented a reset for the whole game.’
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