Top five: Most caps for England

**Alastair Cook (156*)**There are few cricketers who have managed to stay true to the conventions of a Test opener in this age of power-hitting. And none of them are better than Alastair Cook.

Cook is not only England's most capped cricketer, but also their highest run-getter. Having announced his arrival against India in 2006, with a half-century and a century, he has been an integral part of England's Test outfit, and has led in 59 of his 156 Tests. In England's most historic wins abroad – like the Ashes 2010-11 and the 2012-13 series in India – he played a key role, topping his team's batting run-charts in both.

James Anderson (138*)
Having made his debut in 2002, James Anderson failed to make an impact in the initial years. He was promising, but erratic, and as a result, struggled to cement his spot in the team. However, following his second coming in 2009, he has been nothing short of sensational. With better control and more variations, he has not only spearheaded England's bowling attack but also became one of the best pacers in the world alongside the likes of Dale Steyn.

While swing has been his greatest strength, his pace, and ability to bowl long spells have been underrated. With 540 wickets to his name, he is now short of only Glenn McGrath among the highest wicket-taking pacers ever.

Alec Stewart (133)
No one in world cricket scored more runs than Alec Stewart in the 1990s. In an era where English cricket went from one poor result to another, Stewart was a rare star. Even as he remained a mainstay of their batting, his primary role was compromised due to England's need to find balance. He was asked to don the wicket-keeping gloves. In time, he was asked to lead.

His batting ran through periods of glory and lows, but much like he breached Graham Gooch's tally of most Test appearances, he even threatened to surpass him as England's highest run-getter. That was not to be, but his runs tally remains their third-highest in Tests. At the time of his retirement, he was England's most capped player with 133 appearances.

Ian Bell (118*)
Ian Bell's initiation in Test cricket overlapped with that of Kevin Pietersen. And it is no surprise that his exploits came in the shadow of the incident-ridden career of his superstar teammate. Nonetheless, Bell, who made the cut for the 2005 Ashes series ahead of Robert Key, remained an integral part of the team in their historic series win then, and for almost a decade that followed.

Bell's batting was dependable and elegant. While he hasn't featured for England since 2015, he continues to play county cricket and has been in good form.

Stuart Broad (118*)
One half of England's most destructive bowling pair of the 21st century, Stuart Broad has been in a perfect partnership with Anderson. Tall and lanky, Broad troubles batsmen with steep bounce and pace. He may not be as consistent as Anderson, but few bowlers in cricket history have managed to cause as much havoc in brief spells as Broad – Trent Bridge 2015 prominently comes to mind.

In 118 matches so far, he has picked up 417 wickets and stands next to only his new-ball partner in the list of highest wicket-takers for England.

Note: Graham Gooch, who played from 1975 to 1995, also has 118 caps.

* denoting the player is still active