Alastair Cook, the former England captain, who retired from international cricket last year, has insisted he’ll never return to international cricket, back-tracking on an earlier instance when he said “never say never”.
Cook called time on his international career during the Tests against India last year, scoring a memorable 147 in his final innings. However, England have since struggled to replace him, and his retirement has compounded problems in the openers’ slot.
Cook, meanwhile, has been in decent nick for Essex, starting the season with a 150* for Cambridge MCCU and scoring a half-century against Hampshire thereafter.
"There's no reason why he couldn't make a comeback"@EssexCricket captain @rtendo27 doesn't rule out possibility of team-mate Alastair Cook's England return.
— ICC (@ICC) March 30, 2019
➡️ https://t.co/ew0elS3LmX pic.twitter.com/AQ3kasenR5
But, he insisted he’d never go back on his international retirement. "The call's not coming. It's not coming," he told Sky Sports. “In the last couple of interviews I've done, there's always been a headline. Look, I'm not coming back. I've had my go. I said, 'never say never', and that's the worst thing I've said.
“Someone said, 'If there was 15 broken legs, would you come back?' No, that's it. Unfortunately, my time has gone. I look back on it with great, fond memories, but it's time for me to move on, it's time for England cricket to move on.”
For now, Cook just wants to “hopefully enjoy a couple of years of county cricket”, and with that, he hopes to end all talk of his potential future international return.
Trending News
-
1
1 Babar Azam extends lead after latest rankings update
Pakistan captain Babar Azam has increased his lead as the top ranked ODI batter in the world as a pair of New Zealand players made giant strides on the latest MRF Tyres ICC Men's Player Rankings.
-
2 More men’s international cricket in 2023-27 FTP cycle
-
3 India tour of Zimbabwe: How to watch on ICC.tv
-
4 Paul Stirling joins elite group of T20I batters
-
5 All the squads for 2022 Asia Cup