Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook says he would be interested in coaching following his retirement from professional cricket.

Cook, 38, has played five seasons for Essex since retiring from international cricket in 2018 and has been mixing playing with farming and broadcasting.

"I would love to stay involved in cricket and, at some stage, coaching is interesting," he said.

In his first interview since retiring, Cook told Test Match Special: "It's an interesting part of cricket if the right opportunity came at the right time."

Cook, who led England in 59 Tests, has three young children. His family have a farm in Bedfordshire and he has worked has a pundit on television and radio.

The opener said: "I keep going back to that word 'balance'. Trying to do as many different things as you can, but also being able to spend enough time with the kids because they're only young once.

"I've always found a balance in life and I hope I can continue to do that because I love cricket and everything to do with it."

Cook's 12,472 Test runs and 33 centuries are England records, while no batter for any team has made more than Cook's 11,845 runs as a Test opener. He played 161 Tests, 159 of them played consecutively, a world record.

He first worked for the BBC on a tour of the West Indies in 2019, only four months after he had been part of the England team.

"I really enjoyed getting into the commentary box and I'll admit that I found it hard to start with," said Cook.

"When you leave that dressing room, you have a real emotional attachment to those that are still playing.

"As time has gone on, and there's been five years since I played for England, there isn't that emotional attachment.

"You're still good friends with them but it's a different kind of friendship and I've found it easier to comment on players without that personal barrier."

Cook was only 33 when he called time on his international career. In a memorable ending, he made a century in his final innings, in the fifth Test against India at The Oval in 2018.

Afterwards, he initially agreed to a three-year contract with Essex, the county he first joined as a 12-year-old, but then signed on for an extra two years in 2021.

Cook admitted he made the decision to retire in August of this year, but did not go public with the announcement until the end of the season as Essex made an unlikely bid to win the County Championship before ultimately finishing second behind Surrey.

"I actually found the decision to retire fully a lot harder to get my head around than the England decision a few years ago," he said.

"I was so certain that it was the right time to stop playing for England, I felt like I had nothing more to give to the side. To play at that level, you have to be so committed, so driven and I felt there was nothing more I could give to an England shirt.

"That was quite a clear-cut decision but this one, because it's quite final, you'll never play a professional game or, certainly for me, a competitive game of cricket again, I found it harder to process.

"It was the right decision, I've got no doubt about it at all but the last few weeks, I've found it stranger and more difficult than I did in 2018."