'I have confession about being knighted by the Queen – and I nearly missed out'
Sir Alastair Cook was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2019 for his services to cricket, but the former England captain was close to missing out on the honour altogether
Few honours are more prestigious than a knighthood. Three years before the Queen passed away, former England cricket captain Sir Alastair Cook was named in her New Year honours list. And two months later, the former Essex Eagles star travelled to Buckingham Palace to be given his knighthood by the Queen.
Despite the uniqueness of the occasion and the honour that comes with it, there is one crucial thing Sir Cook has forgotten. In the brief period of time he spent with Her Majesty the Queen, the legendary batsman admitted he can't actually recall what the monarch said.
In addition to that, he was also close to missing out on the honour altogether, as his invitation was sent to the wrong address.
While speaking at the launch of The Overlap and Betfair's Stick to Cricket show, Cook, when asked to describe the invitation process, exclusively told Mirror Sport:"Well, I got a text message.
"My invitation got sent to the wrong address. So someone had some address for something, whether they opened it or not, I do not know."
Looking back on the afternoon itself, he added: "The whole day and the whole experience is very surreal. Certainly one you don't set out for, don't expect and don't necessarily think you deserve.
"It's a very special day to be able to receive it and to be called a Sir and to be able to understand the history of the award, I like my history. It's a huge honour and that's all I can really say about it.
"I can't actually remember what she said. But it was an honour to have met her on a few occasions. It's certainly one which is up there as a proud thing."
Cook retired from international cricket at the age of 33 years old after a historic career as England captain and opening batsman. He departed having amassed 33 test centuries and 12,472 runs, the latter being a national record until Joe Root surpassed him in 2024 on day three of the five-test series in Pakistan.
Cook received an MBE in 2011, which was upgraded to a CBE five years later. Only 12 England cricket stars have received knighthoods for services to the sport, with Cook being the first since Sir Ian Botham in 2007 to be heralded with the honour.
Now he is no longer competing, Cook has been impressed with Ben Stokes ' leadership since he was named captain in 2022. Mentioning his former team-mate, Cook added: "He'll (Stokes) go down in the history of English cricket as one of the best.
"As a leader, you get judged on a couple of things, how your side plays and your results. He's certainly gone in and changed the narrative of how test cricket can be seen."
Stokes' leadership will be put to the test this year, with this weekend's five-test series against India providing England with a huge challenge. A matter of months later, England will travel to Australia for the start of the Ashes in November.
Betfair are set for a big summer and winter of cricket, launching a new show with The Overlap: Stick to Cricket. Don't miss the first episode next week, where the team will be reviewing the opening test of the series between England and India.
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