Left-hand batting great Alastair Cook is set to be bestowed with the prestigious knighthood for his incredible service to English Cricket at the highest level. 

Having retired in September this year after the fifth Test against India at the Oval, Cook could well be conferred with as the youngest knight from our beautiful gentleman's game. 

It remains memorable how the affable man followed his very assured 71 in the first innings with one of his great hundreds in the second. Even in his last match Cook survived and defied the bowlers, before playing with the kind of freedom that was very seldom seen with his batting. His knock of 147 in his very last innings and then the diving smile and teary eyes, it was one of the most beautiful sporting moments that one can ever see. 

As per a report in the Metro on November 6, a proposal to award Cook, who turns 34 on Christmas day, with knighthood has been tabled in the House of Lords.

“It is not just that Alastair Cook is unquestionably the best batsman England have produced in recent years but that he can make a massive contribution as an ambassador for cricket at home and abroad,” Right Hon Lord Andrew Tyrie, a member of the House of Lords, who tabled a Parliamentary question proposing Cook for a knighthood, was quoted as saying in the report, “Nobody could be more deserving.”

Cook retired from the game as England's highest run-getter in Test Cricket, with 12,472 runs in 161 Tests at an average of 45.35 with 33 hundreds. Even as a captain he led the country to great series wins in India(2012) and South Africa(2015-16), either side of which came two fantastic Ashes victories at home against arch-rivals Australia. 

He'll be a much deserving personality of our sport, to be awarded the honour of "Sir" being added to his name.

A picture of stubborn defiance. Well done, Alastair Cook.