Losing the mental toughness he attributed to his longevity made him decide it was time to quit international cricket, England’s record run-getter Alastair Cook said on Wednesday.
“I’ve always been mentally incredibly tough and had that edge to everything I’ve done, but that edge had kind of gone. The thing I’d found easy before wasn’t quite there and to me that was the biggest thing,” the former England skipper told a media interaction at the Oval ahead of his farewell Test against India.
Cook, who will play an England record 161st Test – it will push his all-time record in a row to 159 – hoped he can score runs in his final game.
“You can’t really look past those two away series where I was Man-of-the-Series and we won in Australia and India. That was the best I could play and probably in my career as a whole I can look back and say I probably became the best player I could become.
“That actually means quite a lot to me. Yes, I’ve never been the most talented cricketer and I can’t pretend I was, but I definitely think I got everything out of my ability.”
