Sam Cook has reached a turning point in what is proving to be a very fine career. No, not because he’s the only chef in Essex for the first time. Instead of waiting for the England squad to come to him, he is determined to claim it by broadening his horizons.
Cook has been a fixture on the domestic scene since emerging in 2017 with Essex, aged 20, with plenty of silverware to boot. He has won the County Championship twice, the Bob Willis Trophy, the Vitality Blast and the Hundred.
His 265 first-class wickets cost less than 20 runs each. In fact, statistician James McCaghrey revealed that of all bowlers to have taken 200 County Championship wickets since 1990, Cook has the second lowest average (18.04). The man in front of him is Muttiah Muralitharan, and the only others under 20 are Mohammad Abbas, Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose. Decent company.
In recent years, he has also become an excellent white ball bowler.
But while it is a remarkable CV that has been enough to earn selection for the Lions, the full England squad has never been called up.
At 26, Cook is optimistic about this, but more determined than ever to play for England. He is not particularly tall, like Ollie Robinson, nor particularly fast, like the fashionable Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue, instead operating at a low speed of 80mph.
“I’ve always had good conversations with England, through Mo Bobat and Luke Wright,” Cook told Telegraph Sport. “And I was told that pace is not a problem. The problem I’ve had is that the spot in the Test team I’m aiming for has been taken by the likes of Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Robinson.
“They have a similar pace to me and have been so good for so long, all-time greats who are so good at staying fit. The spots tended to open up in the roles where England tried to balance the attack. That does not mean that those places will never open again.”
Cook no longer views Test cricket as the only format in which he could represent England. Therefore, it has been a ‘very conscious decision’, which England supports, to pursue opportunities in franchise cricket this winter, rather than playing for the Lions. He played in the T10 League in the UAE last month and will play for Joburg Super Kings in the South African SA20 in the new year. He even submitted his name for the IPL auction but was not eligible.
“I’ve done the Lions for the last few years and I wanted to try something different, expand my game, experience new conditions and new environments and play against the best players I can this winter. I’m already learning different things, and it’s great to play in different conditions,” Cook explains.
“I did that for a few winters and still haven’t picked it. It’s the definition of madness, isn’t it? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. I don’t want to stand still. I want to try and get in there and really see how I can improve as a cricketer.
“I even put my name forward for the IPL. I was realistic that it probably wouldn’t happen. But that time of year, April and May, was my bread and butter in the Championship. I am very proud of how I have performed and don’t want to take it for granted. But I want to add the strings to my bow, I’m trying to diversify my playing. I don’t want to sit idly by and wait for something to happen.”
Cook is also determined to add some pace. That could be “even one or two miles an hour,” or ensuring his fitness allows him to bowl faster for longer.
“That might mean managing how much I bowl,” he says. “I’m a bit older now and I want to manage my workload so I can be at my best and fastest for longer periods of time, rather than just playing every match.”
This undermines the view that Cook is not afraid to vent: that the current volume of cricket at provincial level makes it impossible for a fast bowler to play every game in every format. That’s something he’s been trying to do over the years; last year he missed just one championship match due to injury, and three matches in the Blast and Hundred. He is Essex’s representative to the Professional Cricketers’ Association.
‘We need to play less cricket’
“There are two sides to my opinion on this,” he says. “As a representative you speak on behalf of the dressing room and they share that opinion. My honest opinion on the longevity of the game and how we sustain county and first-class cricket: we need to play a little less.
“I fully sympathize with provincial members who see it differently, but I would ask: are we giving the supporters the best possible product that we can with the talent in this country? There are a lot of great cricketers in this country, but I don’t think the schedule helps us reflect this in the best way. No other country travels like we do, with the amount of cricket we have in the time we have.
“I’m also one of the few fast bowlers who play every format all season, so from a selfish point of view I’ve seen how tough it can be.”
Cook believes that during his time at the top, the Championship has remained as intense as ever, but T20 has risen. Where once there were stages of games for players to progress through, the rising standard means this is no longer the case. Furthermore, streaming broadcasts has increased overall accountability, and each tournament is a showcase for another tournament. All this means that there is no phase of the season when it is quiet for top players.
“It’s just not a favorable schedule from a high performance point of view for a fast bowler who plays all formats,” he says. “As a bowler you shouldn’t just be trying to get through matches. In terms of strength, you don’t have time to train and improve, or get fitter, because you’re trying hard to recover between matches.
“As a bowler recovering from a championship match, you realistically need at least three days to be even partially recovered if you have played a proper four-day match. Right now it’s four days on, three days off and games are played seven out of eight weeks. You then have to travel across the country, which slows everything down. In the Blast there are often matches on consecutive days with long journeys in between.
“I don’t think when you’re in it you realize how physically broken you are. For me, it wasn’t until the end of the season, when I actually had three weeks off and did nothing, that I realized how broken I was. I then went back to the gym and built up my strength again.
“I think back to my performances in the Hundred and then for Essex in September, I was physically broken. When I started prepping, our S&C coach said I looked about three feet taller when I ran, just because my back was under so much strain this season. I watch videos of it and think ‘you look damn good, to be honest’.”
Cook believes there will be no immediate exodus of Test match hopefuls to the “lucrative but fickle” franchise scene, but believes more can be done to make the county game attractive to players and fans. But for now, he’s going to do everything he can to earn a place in England.