Sir Alastair Cook is England’s highest ever run scorer and fifth highest in the history of test cricket. Cook has spent his entire First-Class career with Essex after rising to prominence in 2005, when he scored a double hundred against the touring Australians.

He would make his Test debut that winter, where he promptly completed a debut ton in the second innings of that match, against India at Nagpur.

Retiring in 2018, Cook went on to play 161 Tests, at an average of 45.35, ending his with many records, including the most consecutive test matches (159).

The highlight of his career was away in Australia in 2010/11, where he scored 766 runs with an eye-watering average of 127.66, and captained an Ashes win in Australia for the first time in 24 years.

He retired in the same way he came onto the scene over a decade prior with a century in his final innings against India.

For Essex, since his retirement from the international game, Cook has played a pivotal role in recent success, he was the Club’s leading red-ball run-scorer in both 2019 (1,063) and 2020 (563) on route to trophy wins in the LV= Insurance County Championship and Bob Willis Trophy.

During the 2019 season, Cook found his name written in the record books once again as he and left-handed counterpart Nick Browne posted the club record opening stand of 373.

The famous number 26 moved past 26,000 First-Class runs in 2023 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, with 12,472 coming on the international stage.

Date of Birth:	25/12/84
Squad No:	26
Nationality:
Debut:	2003
Capped:	2005
Role in Team:	Batter
Batting:	Left-Hand
Bowling:	Right-Arm Slow
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Nick Browne cemented his place in the Essex side in 2014 averaging 54.16, with a top score of 132* (322). He went on to win the 2014 First XI Young Player of the Year award.

Awarded his County Cap in 2015 after the conclusion of the Glamorgan fixture, in a season which also saw Browne become the first player since Ravi Bopara in 2008 to score 1,000 runs in the County Championship season for Essex. His 151* (184) against Leicestershire taking him past the milestone.

He once again made 1,000 runs at a healthy First-Class average of 50.48 in 2016. This was boosted by a career-best 255 (445) against Derbyshire, one of two double-centuries he made against them that promotion season.

Double-centuries became something of a speciality – he made it three in a row the following summer, this time against Middlesex at Chelmsford, joining Alastair Cook in an Essex record opening stand of 373.

The left-hander was an integral part of both County Championship successes in 2017 and 2019, scoring over 1,000 first-class runs again in 2017 and 710 runs in the 2019.

In 2019, the left-handed batter, still solid at the top of the order, passed 5,000 first class runs for Essex as he scored 67 (168) in the first innings against Nottinghamshire.

5 years after his last double-century, Browne became the first person to reach 200 on four occasions for Essex in First-Class cricket, hitting 234* (454) against Somerset in July 2022.

Date of Birth:	24/03/91
Squad No:	10
Nationality:
Debut:	2013
Capped:	2015
Role in Team:	Batter
Batting:	Left-Hand
Bowling:	Right-Arm Legbreak