Cook said Bopara was “slightly rotund” as a kid and would keep wickets. “So we played against each other first,” he said. “He won’t mind me telling you, he was slightly rotund … wicketkeeper. I think quite a few people have seen the photos so he wouldn’t mind me bringing it up.

“And he was a wicketkeeper, and he just stood up to everyone and he was a genius wicketkeeper, because he was so lazy that he can’t be arsed to walk any further. He did say that his dad owned a sweet shop … he must have thought there are a lot of sweets, but I reckon Ravi ate most of them.”

Cook and Bopara played together for Essex for 18 years, but the all-rounder moved to Sussex after the 2019 season, which came as a shock to Cook.

“We played against him, Under-11s or Under-12s in London schools as I was playing for them then. Ever since age-group (cricket), we’ve just kind of grown up together,” said Cook.

“He got his first contract slightly ahead of me, but we have always been like … this is the first year in how many years that I don’t think we’re going to play a game of cricket as he has moved to Sussex. Actually that was a bit of a shock. But yeah, to have someone like him, to play England, played Essex, all the way through, was pretty amazing.”