Fellow England players lead tributes to outgoing captain Cook

Alastair Cook had 59 tests in charge of England. Credit: PA

Several England players have taken to Twitter to pass on their thanks to Essex's Alastair Cook who has announced that he is standing down as captain of the test team.

32-year-old Cook has made the decision to quit after 59 tests in charge of his country.

The tipping point was the recent 4-0 series defeat in India where England were comprehensively outplayed.

Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad are among those to have paid tribute so far, with more expected to follow throughout the day.

There was a less gracious tweet from former star Kevin Pietersen though who simply wrote: '#BringBackKP'.

Pietersen hasn't played for England since the 2013-14 Ashes series after being frozen out by Cook and director of cricket Andrew Strauss.