DEREK PRINGLE

@derekpringle

Too close to criticise: Alastair Cook with his old England pals Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad
PICTURE: Getty Images

Freshly knighted but perhaps not so freshly minted after the lambing season on his wife’s farm, Sir Alastair Cook begins his new life as a former England cricketer – an existence that will mean notching up the runs for Essex and giving his tuppence worth for the BBC as well as in a weekly column for the Sunday Times.
A gig in the media is what former captains of England can expect these days, and many have made the leap from play...