It says much about Sam Cook that he has long been linked with an England call-up. Yet this summer just might be his moment after the Essex seamer’s relatively light winter playing franchise cricket has allowed him to add the missing ingredient to his armoury of weapons – pace.
The 26-year-old has few rivals among English bowlers when it comes to his first-class record, with 265 wickets at an average of 19.94.
Having already won the County Championship twice, the Bob Willis Trophy, the Twenty20 Blast and The Hundred, Cook has achieved much in the six years since he made his debut for Essex back in 2017.
Indeed, he became the first bowler to take 200 first-class wickets with an average under 20 when he reached the landmark in 2022.
And of all the bowlers to have taken 200 wickets in the County Championship since 1990, only the great Muttiah Muralitharan has a lower average than Cook’s 18.04.
However, it is his pace, or lack of it to be exact, that has counted against him when it comes to England selection. Cook’s speed is around 80 to 81 miles per hour. And despite the skills that have seen him devastate county batting line-ups, the fact great seamers in Stuart Broad and James Anderson have been in his way have further blocked Cook’s route into the England team.
Yet with Broad retiring at the end of last summer, Anderson surely set to follow him at some point and Ollie Robinson, another bowler for who skill rather than pace is his biggest asset, now seeing his place questioned after a poor series in India recently, Cook may now be closer to a call-up than ever.
After complaining publicly about the relentless county schedule that leaves bowlers “physically broken”, Cook took a winter off from red-ball cricket and instead played in the Abu Dhabi T10 and South Africa SA20 franchise leagues either side of Christmas.
It has left him feeling re-energised ahead of Essex’s opening County Championship match at Nottinghamshire next week.
It was a decision taken with the full support of England, with whom Cook remains in regular contact, and was felt more beneficial than sending him on the Lions tour of India.
Working with Joburg Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming, a close friend and former New Zealand team-mate of England coach Brendon McCullum, during his time in South Africa proved revelatory.
“He was fantastic,” Cook says. “I really bought into how he tries to run things, it’s a very specific approach, quite laid-back in terms of his demeanour, makes you feel really comfortable and makes you feel like you deserve to be there.
“Part of the decision about what I would do with my winter was to play out in South Africa. I’d not played there and with one eye on the England ambitions it was somewhere I wanted to experience.”
The atmosphere and environment under Fleming in Johannesburg is something Cook might recognise whenever he does get the tap on the shoulder from England’s Bazballers.
“I think, they played together for quite a long time,” Cook says of Fleming and McCullum. “It’s probably something about the Kiwi character, laid-back, super-nice guys and very good coaches.”
Yet to get to that next level, Cook might need an extra few miles per hour in his tank to add to his skills with the ball. It’s something he now believes he possesses.
“I know I don’t bowl 90mph but there’s a lot of bowlers who have been very successful in Test cricket who haven’t bowled 90mph,” he tells i at Essex’s Chelmsford HQ.
“Certainly, it’s something I’ve worked on the last couple of years and in the SA20 I know my speeds were up around the guys playing international cricket for South Africa. It’s something I’ll keep trying to improve on and I think I’m starting to see some results.
“I know it’s only short-form cricket but the fact I’ve got the ability to compete at similar speeds with guys who have played international cricket gave me confidence.”
Despite his torrid Test return against India in Ranchi last month, Robinson still averages 22.92 from the 20 Tests he has played. And it is his footsteps Cook believes he will most closely follow if he does play Test cricket.
“I’ve spoken before about trying to emulate what Robbo has done in the Test arena,” he says.
“It gives guys like myself who are of a similar skill set confidence. I know they want guys to bowl at a higher pace and that’s what I’m going to try and do but I’ve always said I’m very conscious of not going away from what I do well and how I’ve taken my wickets so far.
“It’s trying to get that balance right. Someone like Robbo obviously confirms that and gives you more confidence. But it’s the same with Jimmy, Broady, these guys are all the same, I know they are probably a bit quicker than myself and Robbo but they’re not massively away from us in terms of pace.”
Cook was lucky enough to spend quality time with Anderson during an England training camp in Abu Dhabi two winters ago. And while he is one of the contenders to replace him whenever England’s all-time leading wicket-taker does retire, he is not surprised Anderson is still going at the age of 41.
“Having spent a little bit of time with him last winter it’s no secret why he’s still performing at that level,” he says.
“He’s still the best there is. He sets an example to younger guys on how to keep yourself in shape and keep improving. That’s something you want to try and emulate.”
Cook may soon get the chance to do just that.