Cook was included in the ECB National Academy in the winter of 2005–06. The Academy's tour of the West Indies was cut short on 24 February for Cook who only appeared in the first innings, scoring only 6, before being called up, alongside James Anderson and Owais Shah, to the England team's tour of India to replace captain Michael Vaughan who was suffering from a knee injury and opener Marcus Trescothick who was suffering from stress.
