Alastair Cook

How I love thee.

He is a fine wine; a good cheese; Richard Geer... Just gets better the longer he's around.

His 106 in England's draw against Sri Lanka at Lord's was his 6th century in 9 matches. Yes, he's not a very quick scorer, and yes, that could well be a problem in ODIs (although I have faith that he'll be able to adapt his game from one format to the other), but when he's in he's a rock and that's exactly what England, and any side, need. He's a big, beautiful, looks-of-a-Grecian-God rock that players like Pieterson and Bell and Morgan can anchor themselves to. Plus he's really good to watch - he has a beautiful technique and more often than not these days looks serene on the crease. He's been playing amazingly over the past 6 months (will his Ashes triumph ever be repeated/bettered?) and to all those nay-sayers out there I ask you: what do you want??

I'll keep you blogged...