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Arise Sir Alastair Cook.

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  • Yeah I think he's earned it, one of the all time best.
  • Surely the privilege to play for England, become England’s greatest, whilst being paid well is enough.

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  • The divers who saved the kids in a cave in Thailand deserve their recognition. Excelling at a game that you only play for 6 months a year, I don’t think so.

    Southgate got recognition for finishing 4th!!
  • edited December 2018
    perhaps a bit early .. Botham for example got his as much for his charitable work as for his cricketing prowess...
    oh, and if Boycott were dead, he'd be turning in his grave ((:>) .. he's unlikely to get knighted as he is a convicted woman friend beater (in France), although nowadays it seems infamy as well as fame can gain one a knighthood
  • bloody 'ell - whats with the Cook bashing ??
    captain of the national team of probably the second national sport during one of the most successful eras , and you still dont think he's worth it ?
    Who would you rather have , Sir John Terry ?
    There have been plenty of dubious knighthoods in the past, Tony Robinson and Phillip Green spring to mind - yet you wanna doubt one of Englands greatest batsmen ??
  • Riviera said:

    I’ve nothing against Alistair Cook nor his knighthood but England’s finest ever batsman? He’s not even in the top 10.

    Are you on crack? He’s easily our finest batsman, both statistically and in terms of actual success, both as a captain and a player.
  • Don't understand why people knock Cook about getting a knighthood, it's not as if he has asked for one is it?
  • For those who are against it, I pose the question who do you think is more deserving?

    Below is a list of all the knighthood winners on the 2019 Christmas list. I suspect that most of us don't know who most of them are. I deliberately didn't copy the reasons for their knighthoods, though there is a link at the bottom. For my own part I believe that Bill Beaumont's is for services to BBC Quiz Programmes and that Redwood's is nothing but a sop - an enticement for the disgusting old self-server to go soft on May when things get a bit sticky in parliament in January. Of the others, I really don't know who they are or why they are there. I am pleased to see that there are a lot of professors there. I'd like to think that this signals the value of research and education - though of course, not as much as funding them properly would! I'm disappointed to see that many of them already have other awards: I can't help but think it's just the same few people getting awarded all the time. Anyway my point is that, other than Redwood, I would not remove any of them from the list, because I am not significantly aware of their works or achievements (or lack of). Cook has provided a lot of entertainment for a lot of people and set a new record in the process. What's not to like?

    Richard John William ALSTON CBE
    William Blackledge BEAUMONT CBE DL
    Ian Craig BLATCHFORD 
    Donald Hood BRYDON CBE
    Rt Hon Alan CAMPBELL MP
    Alastair Nathan COOK CBE
    Professor Jeremy James FARRAR OBE
    Professor Michael Anthony John FERGUSON CBE FRS
    Professor Melvyn Francis GREAVES 
    Professor Alexander Norman HALLIDAY FRS
    Professor David KLENERMAN FRS
    James Henry LEIGH-PEMBERTON CVO
    John Henry James LEWIS OBE
    James MACKEY 
    Professor Jonathan Robert MONTGOMERY 
    Philip Nicholas Outram PULLMAN CBE
    Rt Hon John Alan REDWOOD MP
    Roy Alexander STONE CBE
    Gary Nicholas STREETER MP
    Dr Patrick John Thompson VALLANCE 

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/768174/NewYearHonoursList2019.csv/preview
  • To me he definitely deserves it. He's given people, including me, enormous pleasure watching him bat and represent our country. I certainly think those that do charity work deserve theirs but those who represent the country proudly also deserve them.
  • Riviera said:

    I’ve nothing against Alistair Cook nor his knighthood but England’s finest ever batsman? He’s not even in the top 10.

    Are you on crack? He’s easily our finest batsman, both statistically and in terms of actual success, both as a captain and a player.
    Tenacious, resilient, gritty, loyal and patriotic. Cook has all these attributes in abundance and thoroughly deserves his knighthood. However as a batsman, although he scored heavily during his purple patches (who could ever forget the 2010/11 Ashes?) his batting was limited, effective, but limited nonetheless. The title England's finest batsmen can simply not go to him. Hobbs, Hammond, Hutton, Compton, Sutcliffe, May, Cowderey, Boycott, Gooch and Gower were all better batsmen than Cook. As for statistically, well he had at least 100 more Test innings than all but 2 of England's all time greats so he should be top run and century scorer. A rule on stats that has always been used in cricket to separate the good from the great and still works today is that good Test batsmen average in the 40's. Great Test batsmen average over 50.
    I was a big fan of Cook and stuck by him through some of his poor runs but did feel he went on a year too long. He had a wonderful career, full of highs and lows and will always be remembered as one of England's most effective batsmen but never their finest.
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  • Cook is like Anderson in that they might be England record holders but are slightly below the very best when it comes to averages. And both have been professional Test players in recent years, not playing white ball cricket or much county championship cricket either which has really helped their Test stats
    To me the knighthood is slightly OTT, but still a great player
  • Arise Sir Chef.
  • Limited is something cook’s technique simply isn’t.

    To put boycott above him is bizarre, the bloke who got his runs through sheer bloody mindedness, and the forward defensive.

    Cook was rightly hailed as “the next gower” because of his superb technique.

    Methinks you have rose tinted nostalgic glasses on. Cook is by far superior, both in style, athleticism and in terms of runs and average.
  • I don't think it's overly deserved, but then for me, the same goes for most sportspeople who receive knighthoods or become dames when they're still active or have only recently retired.

    Still, arise Sir Cookie. Definitely - DEFINITELY - one of England's greatest ever, no matter how some may try and cut it.
  • The Essex hat/Adidas jacket look is a bit naff but it's completely over the top to call him a bastard over his fashion choices.
  • Comparing Gower to Cook! That's so funny.

    Gower was a beautiful batsman to watch. But no-one in their right mind would select Gower over Cook for a matched you need to win. Or, indeed, to avoid losing.
  • Chizz said:

    Comparing Gower to Cook! That's so funny.

    Gower was a beautiful batsman to watch. But no-one in their right mind would select Gower over Cook for a matched you need to win. Or, indeed, to avoid losing.

    Not a scenario that would occur in cricket, what you are saying is akin to having to choose between Gary Neville or David Beckham for an England football team.
    Gower was indeed a beautiful batsman to watch but he also played many significant innings for England and too many who never actually saw him play believe in the myth that he was never more than 2 balls away from a lazy flick outside the off stump or similar.
    Test cricket did not begin in 2005.
  • Riviera said:

    Chizz said:

    Comparing Gower to Cook! That's so funny.

    Gower was a beautiful batsman to watch. But no-one in their right mind would select Gower over Cook for a matched you need to win. Or, indeed, to avoid losing.

    Not a scenario that would occur in cricket, what you are saying is akin to having to choose between Gary Neville or David Beckham for an England football team.
    Gower was indeed a beautiful batsman to watch but he also played many significant innings for England and too many who never actually saw him play believe in the myth that he was never more than 2 balls away from a lazy flick outside the off stump or similar.
    Test cricket did not begin in 2005.
    I don't disagree with you, for perspective though for what service Cook has given to England for a long time he is the best English test batsman of recent times. In my memory of test cricket I've seen Gatting, Atherton, Vaughan, Butcher, Bell, Treschothick, Strauss, Thorpe and Hussein who I all rated as batsmen. And a lot of them I rated for their guts as much as their batting ability. Chuck in doing the captain's role as well and were looking at Vaughan, Strauss and Cook due to their Ashes wins.

    Look at runs scored and innings and tests saved Cook is out on his own although Bell for an ashes series was the man for this

    I don't begrudge Cook his honour and nor do I think it's productive to compare modern day players to players from a different generation as the game has changed.

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