Story Sailing the Chef's Boat - An Alistair Cook Career

[Short Leg Cricket]

SAILING THE CHEF'S BOAT
AN ALISTAIR COOK CAREER
​

Introduction

So, after delving through different modes and gameplay of Ashes Cricket, I thought I would conquer one last challenge on the game through Alistair Cook. Cook retired in real life after the Indian Test Series in September and we will be matching that through our storyline. The game begins in the Ashes Series of 2017/18 therefore I simulated through the Ashes as well as the New Zealand tests. This brought us to the English Summer where I simulated through the County season regularly checking up on the Chef's progress. Surprisingly, Cook had played his last Test match for England in New Zealand after being dropped from the Pakistan and Indian Test Series and subsequently retiring from Test match cricket.
During this period, Cook featured in the County Championship Division 1, Royal London One Day Cup and the T20 Blast for his county side Essex.

*Throughout my simulation I found that in all 3 formats, the groups were in alphabetical order and not divided up in quality for the Division 1 and 2 sides. This was the same in the One Day Cup and T20 Blast as they were not divided up into North and South. This meant that Essex were playing against some lower traditional county sides but it still made for some great and exciting matches.

2017/18 Results (Simulated)

Ashes 2017: Australia win Ashes 3 – 2​

Gabba: 32 + 54 Australia win by 53 runs

Adelaide: 6 + 51 England win by 1 wicket



WACA: 142 + 40 Australia win by 7 wickets

MCG: 42 + 3 Australia win by 438 runs

SCG: 45 + 22 England win by 130 runs

Cook's Batting : 437 runs in 10 innings 1 100 2 50s HS: 142 Avg: 43.70

New Zealand Test Series 2018: New Zealand and England draw ​

University Oval: 47 + 1 New Zealand win by 2 runs

Basin Reserve: 18 + 38 England win by 21 runs

Royal London One Day Cup 2018
​

Quarter Final vs Worcestershire

New Road: 35 (41) Worcestershire win by 3 wickets

County Championship Division 1 2018​

Essex beat Hampshire by 441 runs at Chelmsford: 9 (27) + 11 (18)

Cook dropped from England Squad and subsequent 3 County matches for Essex ​

Coach Trevor Bayliss: " We spoke with Alistair about the situation and we agreed for the good and improvement of the team as a whole that we would begin to develop some of our younger, uncapped players. Cook has been a tremendous and consistent player and if not one of the world's best opening batsman for us and has been a great servant of our team but this gives a great opportunity for Rory Burns to nail down a spot inspired from his impressive county season."

Essex beat Durham by 3 wickets at the Riverside: 19 (23) + 23 (30)

Glamorgan beat Essex by 1 wicket at Chelmsford:

17 (22) + 7 (13)​

Gloucestershire draw with Essex at Bristol: 25 (31) + 31 (52)

Gloucestershire beat Essex by 7 wickets at Chelmsford: 19 (19) + 119 (159)

Essex beat Glamorgan by 5 wickets at Sophia Gardens: 61 (54) + 81NO (78)

Essex beat Lancashire by 6 wickets at Old Trafford: 65 (68) + 15 (25)

T20 Blast 2018 : Captain Cook​

T20 Group Stage: 267 runs in 16 innings HS: 104NO 1 100 0 50 Avg: 17.8

T20 Finals Stage: 89 runs in 2 innings HS: 75NO 1 50 Avg: 89

Group Stage

​

Lancashire beat Essex by 4 wickets at Chelmsford: 1 (2)

Essex beat Leicestershire by 9 wickets at Grace Road: 32 (28)

Derbyshire beat Essex by 5 wickets at Chelmsford: 2 (4)

Essex beat Durham by 6 wickets at the Riverside: 14 (4)

Glamorgan beat Essex by 8 wickets at Chelmsford: 13 (20)

Essex beat Gloucestershire by 4 wickets at Bristol: 30 (30)

Essex beat Hampshire by 7 wickets at Chelmsford: 6 (4)

Kent beat Essex by 21 runs at St Lawrence: 10 (3)

Essex beat Kent by 5 wickets at Chelmsford: 1 (4)

Essex beat Hampshire by 9 wickets at Ageas Bowl: 104NO (48)

​

Gloucestershire beat Essex by 5 wickets at Chelmsford: 1 (3)

Glamorgan beat Essex by 8 wickets at Sophia Gardens: 1 (3)

Essex beat Durham by 5 wickets at Chelmsford: 11 (5)

Essex beat Derbyshire by 5 wickets at the 3aa County Ground: 8 (4)

Essex beat Leicestershire by 4 runs at Chelmsford: 27 (28)

Essex beat Lancashire by 11 runs at Old Trafford: 6 (7)

• Essex qualify for Finals in 3rd spot

Quarter Final: Essex beat Surrey by 14 runs at Kia Oval: 75NO (56)

Semi Final: Sussex beat Essex by 7 wickets at Chelmsford: 14 (10)

County Championship Division 1 2018 End Of Season​

Essex beat Durham by 7 wickets at Chelmsford: 55 (74) + 25 (36)

Derbyshire beat Essex by 90 runs at the 3aa County Ground: 10 (11) + 51 (77)

Kent beat Essex by 6 wickets at Chelmsford: 12 (25) + 47 (68)

Essex beat Hampshire by 3 wickets at the Ageas Bowl: 23 (22) + 27 (36)

• Division 1 Stats: 752 runs in 11 matches (22 innings) 1 100 5 50s HS: 119 Avg: 35.81
  
• Essex finish in 4th place in Division 1

COOK RETIRES FROM ENGLAND DUTY ​

“Although it is a sad day, I can do so [retire] with a big smile on my face knowing I have given everything and there is nothing left in the tank. I have achieved more than I could have ever imagined and feel very privileged to have played for such a long time alongside some of the greats of the English game. The thought of not sharing the dressing room, again, with some of my teammates was the hardest part of my decision, but I know the timing is right.”

Conclusion

• This is where we leave the 2018 season and from the start of the in game 2019 season, I will begin to play as Alistair Cook to see whether we can give Essex some county glory and further Cook's riches in tournaments around the world.
• It has been rumoured that Cook is being tempted by a potential offer of a One Day captaincy role but nothing has been confirmed yet.
• Commentary and words from recognised pundits will feature throughout alongside news articles and storylines from Cook in his Essex shirt.
  
• I will post photos of scorecards and gameplay and will try at some stage to have some highlights of the matches but I am new to it so I might stay away from that to begin with.
• I am using Fotor as my editing and cropping of photos and by no means is this polished at all but with little time before Cricket 19 embarks, the story and results takes my priority.
• I am aiming to upload a post every 2 - 4 days which spaces out the content and means you're not waiting too long for the next post and I will have a backlog of content ready to go to keep up the time and efficiency.
  
• So, join me on this small adventure in Cook's last few years as we aim to enjoy county cricket and try and play some overseas cricket in the winter.
• Please feel free to give me your feedback and guidance in the comments, it will all be greatly appreciated!

 

[Rumple43]

Interesting premise, I’ll be following along for sure.

Loving how many stories are popping up recently, that is awesome!