Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook has signed a two-year contract extension with Essex until the end of the 2023 campaign.

Cook – England’s leading run-scorer in Test cricket with a tally of 12,472 at an average of 45.35 – has helped Essex win the County Championship in 2019 and Bob Willis Trophy in 2020 since bowing out from international cricket in 2018 with a century in his final Test against India.

The 36-year-old said of his new deal: “I have really enjoyed my cricket here at Essex since my international retirement.

Cook scored a century in his 161st and final Test match, ending with an England-record 33 hundreds in the format

“We are lucky to have a fantastic dressing room and great coaching staff, led brilliantly by [head coach] Anthony McGrath, and I’m looking forward to what is hopefully another successful couple of years.”

McGrath added: “It’s great news that Cooky has committed his future. He is still one of the best batters in the world and he’s so important for us both on and off the field.

“He has the ability to take the game away from the opponents in both red-ball and white-ball cricket, and that’s something every head coach wants in their team.

“He’s also a great role model the younger lads coming through and has a wealth of knowledge that all the players in our dressing room, including the senior pros, tap into from time to time.”