Former Proteas captain Graeme Smith salutes Alastair Cook after his retirement from international cricket.
The former England skipper announced that he will retire from international cricket after the fifth Test against India.
ALSO READ: Cook to end England career
Cook captained 59 matches for England. He won 24 matches, lost 22 and drew 13 between 2010 and 2016.
Smith was the far more experienced skipper. In 109 Test matches, Smith won 53, lost 29 and drew 27 as captain between 2003 and 2014.
As a batsman, Cook’s record suggests that he edges Smith based on runs scored and Test matches played. In 160 matches, Cook racked up 12,254 runs that included 56 half-centuries and 32 centuries.
Smith scored 9,265 runs in 117 matches and racked up 27 tons and 38 half-centuries. Smith’s average, however, was 48.25 and Cook’s is 44.88 with one more Test to play against India.
Smith took to Twitter to congratulate his former opponent.
Congrats to Alistair Cook on a fine career, certainly opening the batting for the length of time he did is an amazing effort! Wish him all the best in retirement and say thank you for the way he represented our beautiful game.
— Graeme Smith (@GraemeSmith49) September 3, 2018
ALSO WATCH: Cook’s teammates bid him farewell
Photo: Andrew Yates/AFP/GettyImages
