Alastair Cook hits century in final test cricket match for England

Alastair Cook picked one heck of a way to end his test cricket career. On Monday the English batsman turned in an astounding 147 in the final innings of his career in the fifth test against India at The Oval.

Cook’s innings cements himself at No. 5 in the list of all-time test match run scorers, and it came during a relatively quiet series. Until the final test neither side had consistently put up big runs, but in the end it was Cook and Joe Root who exploded in the fifth test, combining for 272 runs in a series that England already had in the bag.

Cook made his debut for England in 2006 and immediately made an impact on the pitch with a century in his debut. He went on to complete one of the best opening maiden years of a batsman ever, finishing with over 1,000 runs and centuries in four tests. In 2015 Cook became the all-time run leader for England, surpassing Graham Gooch’s mark of 8,900 test runs — which had stood since 1995.

It’s only appropriate that Cook would close his test career the way it began, with a big-time innings. It’s easy to overlook Cook’s contribution to the game. He was never flashy like Brian Lara or Sachin Tendulkar, but he was no doubt a legend in test cricket — and considering he’s leaving tests at the age of 33 there’s no telling how far up the leader board he could have made it.