LONDON (AFP) – Alastair Cook said “generational talent” Joe Root could become the first batter to reach 16,000 Test runs as the retired England captain was named in the ICC’s Hall of Fame.
Root, 33, overtook Cook’s record England tally of 12,472 runs in the first Test of the ongoing series in Pakistan, in which the Yorkshireman scored a mammoth 262.
He is now fifth on the all-time list of runscorers behind Sachin Tendulkar, who leads the way with 15,921, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid, all of whom have retired.
“I think Joe Root could set a mark, certainly on the English side, which will be very hard to beat,” said Cook, who retired from Test cricket in 2018 with a century in his final innings.
“But you just never know. I hope he can get very close, if not be the first person to score 16,000 Test runs. It would be a great achievement but it’s a fair way off yet.” Cook, 39, said even in a fast-changing landscape, with Test cricket competing for calendar space alongside the white-ball game, it was difficult to say records would stand forever.
“Everyone looked to that Tendulkar record of 200 Test matches and I think quite a few people said, ‘Well, that’s never going to be done’. And you’ve got a fast bowler who has played 188 Test matches and taken more than 700 wickets (retired England quick James Anderson).
“So I know the game is changing, the landscape is changing. But something always crops up, someone always does.”
Cook said it was difficult to separate the so-called “Big Four” of Root, India’s Virat Kohli, Steve Smith of Australia and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson.
“They’re all wonderful, wonderful players,” he said.
