Now cricket appears to be closing ranks to spare the blushes of Test legend Sir Alastair Cook.
Sir Alastair recounts the incident on his Stick to Cricket podcast, saying it happened when he was playing for Bedfordshire Farmers during a game in Norfolk last week.
“Went to Norfolk for a game against West Norfolk Farmers,” he said.
“Our touring record is poor, we were something like 60 for four I thought we need a few more here so I tried to bat properly. I got 17, bowled. This guy was all over me, not good.”
Sir Alastair said he was scuppered after the ball caught an inside edge of his bat and hit his back leg.
The game is believed to have taken place against West Norfolk Cricket Club (WNCC) last week at Holt but no more details including the final score have been made public.
WNCC vice-captain Edmund Parker, who is listed as match manager in the club’s fixture list, said: “What we’ve got is a lovely game of cricket we don’t want to diminish. I’ve spoken to a few people and we don’t want to comment on it.”
He added the farmer did not come from Norfolk.
The story surfaced on Radio Norfolk’s breakfast show, where host Chris Goreham launched an appeal to find the mystery farmer.
“Bedfordshire turned up with Alastair Cook in the team and he made just 17, bowled out by a good old Norfolk farmer,” he said. “We’d love to speak to that person.”
Sir Alastair began playing for Essex in 2003 and received his call-up to join the England team in 2006.
He became captain of the national side in 2010 and captained the team in 59 Test matches.
He is regarded as being one of our greatest-ever batsman, scoring 12,472 Test runs and 33 centuries.
Sir Alastair, who retired from Test cricket in 2018, was knighted for his services to the sport the following year and played for Essex until 2023.
He then took up farming and sometimes turns out for Bedfordshire Farmers.