Alastair Cook: Shane Warne, Rod Marsh and I had moments but both were hugely influential

The former England captain had his differences with Rod Marsh and Shane Warne but was influenced by both. He recalls calling out the King of Spin for ‘going too far’ – and Warnie’s unforgettable response.

England captain Alastair Cook speaks with Shane Warne during a nets session at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in 2015 in United Arab Emirates.

Rod Marsh and Shane Warne were influential in my career but at different times and in different ways.

I came across Rod in 2005 when I fell under his tutelage at the national academy and then on the A tour to Sri Lanka that he oversaw. To a callow 20-year-old he was, at first appearance, an intimidating figure. His training sessions were ruthless, never more so than when he wheeled out “Iron Mike”, this special bowling machine that worked on a slingshot firing 90mph bouncers at you.

OK, I thought, I’ve face short-pitched stuff before, maybe not quite as quick, but this is what making the step up to international level is all about. Then came the catch. I wasn’t allowed to hook anything. “But that’s my run-scoring shot,” I said (quite reasonably, I thought). “I don’t care, you’re not playing it.” Bear in mind that this session would last 45 to 60 minutes and you appreciate the scale of the challenge.

It was horrible as I tried to sway out of the way of the ball or fend it down, all the while knowing that if I had just been allowed to play the shot with which I felt most comfortable then all this torment would have disappeared. I said something along those lines at the end of one of the sessions and then everything became clear.

“I know you can hook it, I can see you’re good enough, but do you think you will be able to do that against every short-pitched ball you face in Test cricket?” Rod asked. “What about when you come in at the end of the day and the opposition decide to spend the last ten minutes giving you a barrage of bouncers? Are you going to hook then and risk the look on your captain’s face after holing out to fine leg?”

Alastair Cook and Rod Marsh shares a joke before the first Ashes Test in 2015 at Cardiff. Picture: Stu Forster/Getty Images

It was hard-edged advice from a hard-edged man but one who cared deeply about the capability of the players in his charge. Whether they were Australian or English, he was preparing young men for the international stage and that was what drove him to drive you hard. A year later I made my Test debut.

Less than nine months after that, I faced Shane Warne for the first time. It was the 2006-07 series, his last in the Test arena. Maybe I was lucky to catch him at the end of his career but the fact that I was able to play against him and Glenn McGrath and score a ton against them at Perth (and to have him applaud me getting to a hundred) is a personal milestone of which I am very proud.

Shane Warne applauds as Alastair Cook celebrates reaching his century during day four of the third Ashes Test at the WACA in December 2006. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Perth was one of the few Tests on that tour when I had some extended exposure to his bowling – in the other matches McGrath or Stuart Clark had usually accounted for me before he came on. Obviously I had prepared for the challenge of facing him and the thing that always went through my mind was what I tell young batsmen now when they are up against established spinners: play the ball not the man.

When it has been released from the hand, the round red leather thing doesn’t know or care about the reputation of the bowler. If it’s a good ball, that’s because it’s a good ball not because Shane Warne bowled it. It was for the same reason that I told myself not to get drawn into any conversations or mind games with him. And yet, by telling myself that, he was already inside my head.

He came back into my world in 2015. The 2013-14 Ashes had gone terribly and just before the following Ashes at home we had played out an uneventful 1-1 draw in the West Indies. When you are England captain, criticism of your leadership is an occupational hazard. Yet I felt some of the jibes he aimed at me were unfair and uncalled for. I also suspected that he was in part motivated by his friendship with Michael Clarke, who would be my opposite number that summer.

A few weeks before the series, I bumped into him at a ground and called him out on this. “I think you’ve gone too far with some of the things you’ve said,” I said. He was slightly taken aback but was polite and friendly. “OK, you may be right,” he replied. “I was just calling it as I saw it but I am in the media and sometimes, because of who I am, what I say gets blown out of proportion.”

It was what he did next that will always stay with me. “Look,” he said, “here’s my mobile number, if you ever want to talk cricket and pick my brains on anything, just give me a call.”

England leg-spinner Adil Rashid bowls while watched by Alastair Cook and Shane Warne during a nets session at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in October 2015. Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

He didn’t have to do that – certainly not as an Australian – but it was a welcome and generous gesture and one he followed through on. From then until the end of my international career, we chatted and texted about players in the England team (he kept a keen eye on the progress of his fellow leggie Adil Rashid) and the game in general.

To play against him was a privilege. To be able to pick his brain – arguably the best in the game – was an honour.

– The Sunday Times