On this day in 2018: Cook equalled Allan Border's record of playing most consecutive Tests
May 24, 2021
New Delhi [India], May 24 : It was on this day, three years ago, when former England skipper Alastair Cook equalled Allan Border's record of playing most consecutive Tests.
Cook equalled the record in May 2018 as England took the field against Pakistan at the Lord's Cricket Ground. The feat was long held by former Australia captain Border as he appeared in 153 consecutive Tests.
Border had made his debut during the 1978 Ashes in Australia and he was dropped for only a single Test in a career that spanned 156 appearances.
The left-handed Cook had made his debut against India at the age of just 21 in 2006 and after his first Test, injury ruled him out from the next game.
Since then, the batsman did not miss a single Test for England and he went on to equal Border's 24-year-old record. Later in 2018, Cook went on to break Border's record after playing the second and final Test of the series against Pakistan in Headingley.
As a result, Cook went on to appear in a record of 154 consecutive Test matches.
The other players to appear in 100 or more consecutive Tests are Australia's Mark Waugh (107), India's Sunil Gavaskar (106), and New Zealand's Brendon McCullum (101).
McCullum holds the record for appearing in most consecutive Tests since his debut (101).
Cook played a total of 161 Tests in his career and he finally called announced his retirement from international cricket in September 2018.
In his Test career, Cook managed to register 12,472 runs and he holds the record for scoring the most number of runs for an English batsman in Test cricket.
