We are back with another list of best performances articles and this time we will cover some of the greats of English cricket who have served English cricket and World cricket for a number of years and they have made fans from all around the world.

In this article, we will look at the best innings of one of the greatest English cricketers ever and certainly the best England Test batter ever as his record speaks for himself. Yes, we are talking about Sir Alaister Cook. He played for 12 years and retired early at 33 years with a mountain of achievements that tell everything we need to know about this great cricketer. Below we have mentioned Alaister Cook’s stats in international cricket.

Alastair Cook Career Stats

What are Alastair Cook's top performances?

Alastair Cook is widely regarded as England's greatest Test batter. His top performances include an unbeaten 244* vs Australia in 2018, 263 vs Pakistan in 2015, and 294 vs India in 2011. 

Let’s revisit top 5 Alastair Cook best innings below:

1. 294 vs India (2011) – Edgbaston: Alastair Cook highest score in Test Cricket

In Image: Alastair Cook reaction after missing the triple century (Image Source: ESPNCricinfo)

Alastair Cook's highest Test score came against India at Edgbaston in 2011. Cook showed steely determination and skill to bat for close to 12 hours Batting for almost 12 hours to wire down a skilled Indian bowling attack. He played 545 balls and spent 773 minutes on crease scoring 294 runs. Suresh Raina took a catch off Ishant Sharma’s ball, putting an end to his innings. He came just short of scoring a triple century but it was a masterclass In test batting and this is still remembered to this day by English fans. India lost that match by an innings and 242 runs.

2. 235* vs Australia (2010) – The Gabba

In Image: Cook celebrating his first double hundred (Image Source: ESPNCricinfo)

In the 2010 Ashes opener, Alastair Cook delivered a special performance vs Australia in their most lethal ground, Gabba. England was in a tough spot and trailing by 221 runs when Cook came out to bat in the 2nd innings. He and Andrew Strauss put up a 188 runs opening stand. Cook batted for more than 600 minutes before England declared the innings. He scored 235 runs in 428 balls. England was successfully able to draw that test match and this laid the foundation for England’s historic Ashes victory.

3. 263 vs Pakistan (2015) – Abu Dhabi

Cook's innings in foreign conditions in Abu Dhabi was a masterclass in determination and control. Leading the response to Pakistan’s huge first innings score of 523, Cook led the way for England with his 263 and frustrated the Pakistan bowlers, setting the tone for a memorable draw.

4. 176 vs India (2012) – Ahmedabad

This was the first match of the 2012 England tour to India and it was expected that India would hand England another series loss but Alastair Cook was determined to make an impact in this series and created history for England. This innings that he played was in the first test match of this series in Ahmedabad and he was in his element as he played gorgeous strokes all across the ground. His 176 helped England avoid a heavy defeat in this match but it energized the whole team and they won the series 2-1.

5. 244* vs Australia (2018) - MCG

This was one of the all time great match saving innings in test cricket history and it came from none other than the genius known as Alastair Cook when he was in the last stages of his career. When England traveled to Australia and they lost the first three test matches and were on the course for a whitewash but Cook had other plans as he just kept batting and scoring runs and the great Aussie Bowlers had no answers to his batting as they tried everything to get him out but he played an innings of a lifetime and scored 244* and drew England the test match.